Two is Better Than One
by Ekyom
Summary: Two women get themselves stuck in Aperture via an old machine that changed their existence itself. With the addition of one person to the normal gameplay, holes are created in the script, making things vastly different as the story progresses. They'll have to traverse the world together- getting through any new interactions, characters, and story lines that show up on the way.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE: All Dust is Dirt**

Dark, dreary light filtered through the dirt-stained windows. The smell in the room resembled that of both rotting and burnt wood. Shadows danced across the walls with flickering movements, the fairly limited light barely illuminating what little there was inside.

From the outside, this place was barely a house. The roof was caved in; the wooden structure was covered in moss. Old power cords wound down from a windmill, the blades spinning ever so slowly as to collect as much energy as it could. Grass was growing between weathered cobbles, old flower bushes were huge and beyond anything a gardener could fix. The field around it was just as untamed, high grass making it secluded from the rest of the world, an occasional deer bounding through the sea of vegetation. The silence of it all was enough to give anyone shivers.

Within this silence, within this dark epitome of dead, the gentle flow of grass was interrupted by multiple feet. The silence was broken by laughter and jokes. The house was being approached by a party of three.

An orange bob appeared through the grass, followed by two browns. It almost tripped as it went closer to the dismal house, a quick recovery letting it go into the clearing. A girl, freckled and spindly, waved back to the other two heads as she ran across the same weathered cobbles, past the suffering windmill. She stopped at the doorway, standing up straighter to wait for the other two in her party.

"Come on guys, we don't have all day!" she called. An arm shot up from the grass, a ring of keys jingling from the hand. She laughed as it shot back down into the grass, the ruffle of the plant rising as a gentle breeze swept over the area. Both of the brown bobs headed straight for the house, the jingle of keys now among the plethora of sound. Two other figures joined the orange, smashing and crashing through the golden grass as one pushed the other through.

The three regrouped at the front door, both of the brown-haired persons gasping heavily. The orange grabbed ahold of the key ring out of the boy's hand, nudging aside the girl as she went to unlock the door herself. The rusted metal let the door open with a _click_. It was only a second more when the three went into the abandoned house. At the absence of people outside, everything resumed to represent dead.

"This place is gross, let's go home." The boy commented, coughing a bit as dirt and dust rose from surfaces. The orange-haired smacked him gently, careful not to harm him with the keys she held.

"Might as well see what prize we've scored. Maybe he had some expensive stuff or something." The brown-haired girl answered. He frowned a bit as he looked around the bland living room.

"Yeah, 'prize'. Looks like a pile of dirt and wood to me."

"Now Simon, get into the spirit of things!" Orange joined in, peeking around a corner to see a small hallway of doors. "He could have a secret stash of money! Or maybe even a secret recipe worth thousands!" She walked down the hall, Simon and the brunette trailing behind. Orange sneezed. Simon ignored it, snatching the ring of keys from her hand without a sound of protest.

"Are all of the doors locked, I wonder?" He muttered to himself, shuffling through the ring of keys. Each one was labeled something different, how could a single house have this many doors?

He jingled a doorknob, cracking the door open. The orange and brunette followed behind him as they snuck into the room. It was musky, dusty, and covered in what must have been unwashed laundry. The orange crinkled her nose at the musty smell that layered over everything. Simon flickered the keys in his grasp as he eyed the next door in front of them.

"Amber, you had a really weird uncle." The orange smacked him for the comment. He shook it off, facing the next doorway and filing through the keys to find one that might just fit. The brunette behind him fiddled around the room, looking through the cabinets. The flutter of sudden papers coming out of one made Amber turn. The brunette held a handful of the crinkly material, shuffling through them to see the contents inside. Amber's expression went to confusion as the papers held jumbles of words, scribbles of drawings that made both of the girls glance at each other.

"…He was an engineer for awhile?" Amber offered, shrugging innocently as she offered a smile.

Simon yanked on the second door, grunting as it didn't make way. He went through the keys, pausing at the most… mysterious lock of all. Labeled 'Paradoxial', it was the only one that looked relatively advanced enough for the rusted lock. The girls behind him struggled to put the papers back into their rightful cabinet. He put the key in the lock and turned.

A satisfying _click_ came from the rusted metal, the door creaking open just as the cabinet was closed once again. Amber peered over Simon's shoulder to see the stairs. The brunette came just a second after, shoving her way past the two without a word.

"Let's go." Simon muttered, taking second as he crept down the stairs after her. Amber looked around the doorway, searching for a light to flick on or a flashlight to use; neither of which were present.

"Guys, are you sure this is… safe?" the orange called after them, creeping down a few stairs. "Chrissy? Simon?"

"Come down here!" The brunette called from where she was in the dark stairway. Amber held her breath, eyes shut as she went step by step into the dark.

It was 32 steps later when she bumped into Simon's back. He flinched as she made contact, turning back to push her next to Chrissy.

"Welcome to the party." Chrissy hissed to Amber, glaring at where she guessed Simon was. The click of another lock made Amber jump, clutching onto the brunette's arm tightly. He pulled the door open, an explosion of dust meeting them through the doorway. Chrissy sneezed, stumbling forward a few steps behind Simon. Amber searched for a light switch once again, finding one to the left on the wall. She flicked it on.

Chrissy snapped her gaze to Amber as the lights flickered on slowly. A few tried, giving a fizzle in defeat, as they couldn't manage to light. Simon tapped on one, getting nothing. He shrugged, instead inspecting the room as Chrissy joined him. Amber crept further in, eyeing the rather… dusty equipment. Chrissy whipped one of the screens as Simon flipped through a pile of disks.

"Gross. What is this place, anyway?" Amber shrugged, running her hand down a dust-covered chair. Wires were wrapped around the bases of them, keeping them firmly in place. Simon sat in one as he went through a handful of disks and read the titles aloud.

"Empire Earth? Half Life? Amber, your uncle had a weird affinity for games."

"He always was looking for entertainment. Video games always fascinated him." Simon nodded, looking through the pile once more. Amber wandered off, opening a cabinet door. "Whoa, guys! Tripped out helmets!" Amber brought the set to the chairs, setting each one on a chair of it's own. Simon glanced to it before going right back to the disks. "There's only five though. Weird."

"Amber! What d'ya make of this?" Chrissy called from a computer screen, hands on the keyboard as she typed in commands. The orange went over to where the brunette was, standing over her as command after command was denied.

**LOGIN**

**-login[DENIED]**

**Override? Y/N**

**N**

**LOGIN**

**-login [DENIED]**

**Override? Y/N**

Chrissy looked up to Amber, receiving a shrug in return. "It's so weird. Why would it give me an option to override?"

'Try it out. See what my uncle's been up to." Chrissy nodded, their activities attracting Simon to the scene. The brunette looked down at the keyboard and typed a sheet of commands.

**Y**

**-Processing**

**Disk: 0**

**Servers: 1**

**Join game?**

The three glanced at each other, then the chairs that lay in a circle. Each of the helmets was emblazoned with ':PLAYER 1:' and ':PLAYER 2:', ':PLAYER 3:' and so on. Amber and Chrissy glanced at each other, both smiling at the opportunity shown at this situation. The brunette jumped out of her chair and slammed Simon into it, running to follow Chrissy as they sat in the seats and held the helmets.

"Do they need a plug?"

"Don't think so. This is gonna be so cool!" Simon rose a hand of warning, but dropped it as Amber put on the helmet and glanced around. "It's dark. Looks sort of like a simulator." Chrissy gave a tap to the hard exterior, getting nothing more than a hollow knock and Amber smacking her hand away. 'Hey, c'mon! That's loud!" Amber took the helmet off, shaking her hair out as it puffed up slightly.

"Should we put in a disk? He's got a bunch." Simon held up a few.

"Read 'em." Chrissy called.

"Half-life, Left 4 Dead, Minecraft, Terraria, Portal 2-"

"That sounds good! Let's play co-op Chrissy! I bet it'll be fun." Amber slid on her helmet and gave Simon a thumbs up, showing that she was ready. He sighed, grabbing the disk from the many. Chrissy slid her own helmet on as he looked around for a drive to put the game in.

He finally found it, popping the disk into the slot and going back to the screen.

**DISK FOUND: -Portal 2 valve-**

**Launch Program? Y/N**

"Are you sure you two want to go through with this? I'm not sure it works that well…"

"It's a simple Bluetooth contact system with surround-vision and sound, Simon. What's the worst that could happen?" Chrissy observed, leaning back in her chair as Amber shook with anticipation. Simon sighed heavily, going back to the computer he was in front of. It contained more text than what he left with.

**Launch Program? Y/N**

**-TWO PLAYERS FOUND[SMLTR HLMT 1] [SMLTR HLMT 2]**

**Continue Launch? Y/N**

Simon glanced to the two girls, wondering if their confidence was justified. He typed in the command anyway.

**Y**

**-LAUNCHING PROGRAM: DO NOT UNPLUG [SMLTR HLMT 1] [SMLTR HLMT 2]**

The sound of running equipment collected into a constant noise. Sparks flew from a couple of lights. Simon held onto the table as a light shaking took over the room. He called the girls' names, but had no answer. He was forced to stare in horror as licks of electricity flew everywhere, going through the girls' bodies and into the floor. The chairs they sat in tried desperately to disconnect themselves from the floors, but the wires weren't having it.

"Amber! Chrissy!" Simon screamed, jumping up from his chair and running towards the two. A loud thump signaled his fall, the finality of the outside situation showing on the burned screen.

The computer continued to function, displaying its workings and showing what its designated program was to do.

**-LAUNCHING PROGRAM: PARADOXIAL**

**-[SMLTR HLMT 1] FUNCTIONING**

**-[SMLTR HLMT 2] FUNCTIONING**

**Start Game? Y/N**

**Y**

**Let the Games begin.**

Both girls were floating. Amber looked around, grabbing onto Chrissy's hand as they were surrounded with the black. It was a neverending color, never interrupted by light or shape.

"He- uncle Andrew…" Amber whimpered, eyes meeting Chrissy's. For a moment, both girls stared at each other. It wasn't just a simulator.

**Start Game? Y/N**

A loud voice boomed from in front of them, the line of text appearing in the abyss. It glowed bright blue, the words pulsing with light as they awaited to be answered. Amber looked at Chrissy for permission to press the large Y.

"It might not be safe, we might die."

"It's still just a simulator. We'll be fine." Amber replied, letting go of the brunette's hand and swimming towards the large letters. Chrissy watched with dread as Amber pressed her hand against the large Y. She shuddered at the surprisingly cold surface, floating back. The text promptly disappeared, followed by one more line before they were, once again, unconscious.

**Let the Games begin.**


	2. A Very Kind Courtesy

**_CHAPTER 1: A Very Kind Courtesy_**

Light was the first thing both of them saw. Amber cried out at the intensity of it, the whiteness burning through her eyes. She sat up quickly, rubbing her eyes furiously to get the burning away.

_"Good morning! You have been asleep for-"_ She shot her eyes open. The fuzz around her was mildly familiar, blurry shapes and feelings coming into focus slowly. The usual game-start scenery came up, a bare room with only a few aesthetic additions to it.

"Chrissy?" the Orange whispered, pulling her hair back only to feel a tag on her ear. "Chrissy, where are you?"

_"-In compliance with state and federal regulations, all testing candidates in the Aperture Science-" _Amber stood quickly, scanning the room for her partner. To her bad luck, nothing was amiss. Although everything was in it's place, very real to the woman, the Orange was mostly worried about her friend. _"You will hear a buzzer. When you hear the buzzer, look up at the ceiling." _The loud noise penetrated Amber's ears, making her almost cover them. She glanced around one more time, then tilted her head up flush with the ceiling. It took a second of her looking up for the program to continue.

_"Good. Now, look down at the floor." _Amber obeyed again, still glancing around the obviously empty room for where Chrissy was. _"-This completes the gymnastic portion of your-" _She shuffled towards the hallway, clicking open the closer door. Nothing was on the other side, and especially no sign of the brunette. The orange moaned in disappointment, closing the doors again as she bent down to check under the bed.

_"Your testing partner is in the room adjacent to you. Turn to your partner, and wave to them when you hear the buzzer." _Amber stood back up, surprised to see that the wall-sized painting was gone, revealing another room. Chrissy was standing next to her bed, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Where'd the wall go?" Amber asked, going back to the main part of her little apartment. Chrissy shrugged as she walked up to where the wall once was. "A hard-light projection? That makes most sense in this place."

_Please wave to your partner."_ The announcer repeated. Both looked up to the ceiling for any further instruction, Chrissy humming in annoyance. When no more information went through, Chrissy started, raising her hand and shaking it in a sign of greeting. Amber smiled and returned the gesture, laughing as Chrissy huffed. _"Good job. You will hear another buzzer. When you hear the buzzer, talk to your partner." _The large _BZZRT _sounded through the speakers, making the two cringe a bit.

"Rather loud… Where are we, anyway?" Chrissy glanced up to Amber, putting her hand where the hard light wall still was. It gave a zipping noise as she touched it, protesting her entrance to the other room.

"That's right, you've never played Portal 2 before!" Amber smiled. "Well, we're in the intro. After a couple more things to do, we've gotta go back to bed, and that's when the real game starts." The Orange smiled mischievously. "I think that I'll guide you through that relatively well." Chrissy narrowed her eyes into a suspicious glare, the gesture cut short as another loud buzzer interrupted them.

_"This completes the social portion of your Mental, Social, and Physical wellness exercise. There is a framed painting on the wall- please go stand in front of it." _Amber waved goodbye quickly as the hard-light wall turned solid again, the painting re-appearing as Chrissy was hidden once more. The orange turned back and walked to the framed painting. _"This is art. When you hear the buzzer, stare at the art." _She complied, looking at the framed painting. However, in her mind, she was turning over all of the possibilities that could go right or wrong with their situation. Two people were forced into the single-player campaign, they would break the programming and glitch them out. Then what would happen to them?

'Well, we'll just have to hope that two is better than one." Amber muttered to herself, the classical music just stopping with an overly loud buzzer once again.

_"Now, please return to your bed." _The orange jumped onto the covers, yelling out in alarm as white suddenly took over her vision. She got to see one last glance at the potted plant in the corner, before she blacked- or rather whited- out completely.

* * *

He stood himself up on his hands, hissing as he did so. Every part of the boy's body ached with a burn. Glancing about, nothing was really changed; save for the constant sound of running computers behind him. He turned, and had to look up at the top.

A collection of computer drives, stacked one on top of the other, covered a whole wall. How they didn't see it, he didn't know. Small pinpricks of lights covered everywhere, a couple of them labeled in messy print. He stood up with a groan, staggering to the table where the computer was held. He glanced onto the screen, surprised to see the list that was slowly developing.

**WARNING: TOO MANY PLAYERS FOR [Portal 2 valve]**

**-CALCULATE**

**-Calculate [FAILED]**

**WARNING: TOO MANY PLAYERS FOR [Portal 2 valve]**

**-CALCULATE**

**-Calculate [FAILED]**

Simon skimmed his gaze over each line, confused at the progression. He took the mouse, scrolling through lines after lines of the same warnings. He growled angrily, still going through the lists. He eventually came to the end, a short progression showing him what eventually happened inside the large computer.

**GAME OVERRIDE COMMENCING**

**-Data files found: ACCESS GRANTED**

**UPLOADING FOLDERS [Game options 6] [continued scenario thesis] [Paradoxial alternate program 16]**

**-Running alternate program [Paradoxial 16]**

**ISSUE [TOO MANY PLAYERS FOR] RESOLVED**

**STATUS? Y/N**

Simon quickly slammed his finger against the Y key. The computers above him hummed simultaneously as the two women near him were still plugged in. Neither of them were moving, and he could barely see them breathing.

**Y**

**-Calculating status…**

**[PLAYER 1] STATUS: [CONNECTED]**

**DO NOT UNPLUG PARTICIPANTS**

**[PLAYER 2] STATUS: [CONNECTED]**

**DO NOT UNPLUG PARTICIPANTS**

He glared up at the multiple operating systems, slamming his hand onto the table. The lights blinked down at him almost mockingly, the greens and blue and purples giving small lights to their labels. Post-it notes were taped all over them, and each one's power button had been violently ripped out. Simon craned his neck to read what was on the closest note.

'Paradoxial Engine 3' was what the text said. Simon looked over the rest, the top number engine 27. A few notes were posted here and there, saying each of the engine's problems and what another one did to fix it. These notes were scattered everywhere now, a few fallen and on the floor.

The constant humming of the machines almost gave him a headache the noise was so continuous. Simon shook it as he backed down into the chair, gazing up at the collection of computers. He looked back at the computer, watching as a few commands started to appear again. It was working all by itself now, needing no help from the boy that sat in front of its screen.

**END SQUENCE [intro]**

**START GAMEPLAY Y**

**-Processing…**

* * *

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" Amber promptly fell off the bed as the words were said. The announcer above her was drabbling on about nothing, his voice fuzzy and sounding like it had been underwater for a long time.

The orange looked up only to see the room where Chrissy was still waking up. The hard-light wall must have disintegrated without sufficient power, leaving the two able to interact properly. The two met eyes, both showing expressions of confused surprise at the voice.

"There- there should be a testing pair in here, right? Are you both okay?" The male voice called again from Amber's door. Chrissy was frozen in panic, she had never played the game before. Amber was almost the same; she never really had the ability to answer the small bot behind the door before. She stood quickly, brushing dust off of her and calling back through the door.

"Just fine! What's happened?" A loud sigh of relief could be heard from down the hall. He must not have heard the last part, or completely ignored it altogether. Chrissy hurriedly scampered over to Amber across the dead light wall, fearful of the unknown elements of this game.

"Who is that?" She whispered in Amber's ear, eyeing the door as the little bot on the other side kept rambling on to them about nothing in particular.

"He's just a character, calm your nerves." She knew that she was a hypocrite. The orange was just as fazed, trying to walk calmly down the hall to open the door. The wooden surface flew open, the small sphere on the other side screaming.

"Oh my! You look- great, actually. Love the hair, both of you. Have you been working out?" Neither of the girls gave an answer, Amber following Wheatley back into her room. The door closed automatically behind her. "So, uh, could I grab a pair of names? The data's a bit screwy, have to learn all of this stuff manually nowadays. Terrible system, really." He tilted his eye a bit, gazing down at the two girls. Amber stepped up next to where Chrissy was, the brunette looking the bot up and down for any sign of threat. Amber, sighing in frustration at her partner's lack of communication, decided to speak for both of them.

"I'm Amber- easy to tell by hair- and this is Chrissy. Now, can you tell me what's going on here?" Chrissy nodded in agreement, crossing her arms.

"Oh girls, I'd love to talk, if we had any-"1

_"All reactor core safeguards are now non-functional. Please prepare for reactor core meltdown." _The normally cheery voice said with a tinge of malice, the worn speakers not helping at all.

"There it is, there it is!" A pair of panels parted, the small bot raising up into a tough-to-see little area. "But while we've got a second of time, we were going over names, right? I'm Wheatley. But right now, you MIGHT want to hang onto something. Word of advice, up to you." Wheatley turned quiet, the sound of robotics coming from the top of the room. Chrissy followed his advice immediately; dragging Amber with her, the two dove into the small closet and stayed there while the room started to sway. "You two holding onto something? It's gonna be a bit of a rough trip, so hang on!" The room started to move. A few of the walls crumbled already, the strain on them too much as they broke. Chrissy's suspension room crumbled away as it was crashed onto something within seconds of them moving. Things started to hit each other, a few of the items in the room either jumping a bit or falling over with the motion. "Okay, I bet you deserve an explanation, huh? After being frozen in this box for, what, years?" His voice barely made it over the crashing and bashing that happened underneath. "Okay, the reserve power ran out. That means that the whole Relaxation Center gives up, and stops waking up all of the bloody test subjects!" The room still falling apart, the outside could be seen. Against Chrissy's expectation and with Amber's knowledge, faint sunlight filtered through the ceiling. Wheatley didn't stop either, still moving the small apartment and still rambling on. "But nobody bothers to tell me anything, no! Why should they tell me, the core that's supposed to, oh I dunno, _take care of the subjects_? Ten thousand of them, might I add?" The room was almost in shambles right now. Chrissy and Amber kept to the closet, deciding to keep silent as they watched everything continue to be destroyed by the piles of similar apartments around them. Wheatley really wasn't that good a driver. "And who's fault is it, when the management makes it down here and sees ten thousand flippin' vegetables?"

"Wheatley…!" Amber warned the blue-eyed bot, peeking out of the closet to see him crashing into everything he possibly could.

"Okay, let's get all of our stories straight, right? Nobody's going to ask, but if anyone does, tell them that the last time you saw everyone, they were nice and alive. Alright? Not dead, as they so obviously are right now." He rushed the last part, pre-occupied by the fact that he was starting to drive a bit decently. Chrissy stood from her crouch, following Amber out as they stopped hitting things. The room was in complete and total ruin. "Over ahead of us, alright, is one of the testing tracks. It's got a few pieces of equipment we'll need to get out of here. Listening?"

"We've got i- _WE'RE GONNA CRASH THROUGH THE WALL_?!" Chrissy screamed, staggering back and falling onto the bed that was in her way. Amber was already sitting on the floor, holding onto the bedpost that was miraculously still having contact with the carpet.

"There's no docking station. Where'd the docking station go?" The room stopped momentarily, Wheatley humming in thought as he paused. Amber crawled up onto the bed, wrapping her arms around Chrissy as to use the brunette as an anchor. "Okay, no docking station? No problem, nothing to worry about! I'm just… going to attempt a manual override on this wall in front of us here." Chrissy's eyes widened at the statement, clutching onto what was left of the bed sheets. Amber prepared herself for what she knew was inevitable of the situation, keeping her head low as the room swung forward. Both women yelled in alarm as Wheatley smashed the room into the wall, the surface crumbling as the front of the apartment bent at an odd angle. "Ooh, that's got to hurt… Okay, only a few more tries! Hold on tightly!" The apartment swung again, hitting the exact same place where it did before. By now, both Amber and Chrissy had run right back into the closet, gazing out with identical expressions of fear and apprehension. "Almost there, alright? Now in there, you're looking for a couple pairs of boots, and guns that makes holes. Not bullet holes, colored ones that glow a bit and- well, you get the idea. Do hold on this time, we're coming in quick!" There was no sound from the two, both frozen in fear as the bot swung the room one more time. They tumbled out of the wooden closet as the room embedded itself into the wall, breaking a large circle into the vertical surface. It took a second for the dust to settle, both women coughing as they helped each other stand up. Amber brushed a bit of her hair out of her face, Chrissy having to push a tangled lock.

"Watch where you're driving, live cargo down here!" Chrissy yelled angrily, grabbing Amber's arm to help her stand. Above them, Wheatley lowered from the small compartment as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

"And there we go! Rough ride, I know, apologies for that. But I'll be honest here" they both stood, Amber brushing dust off of herself. "You both… are probably in no fit state to run this very particular type of cognitive gauntlet."

"Huh?"

"But, at least- you have each other! Perfect, company's always good when going through gauntlet-like situations. Encouraging." Chrissy glared up at him as they picked their way through the rubble, towards where the wall was. "Ooh, careful, don't cut yourself, careful there Christine… So, go through those tests there, and I'll meet you up ahead."

"C'mon, Chrissy! Adventure awaits!" Amber called with an excited smile, ignoring her barefooted-ness completely as she jumped through a layer of glass and into the tests below. Chrissy looked over the edge of what was left of the wall, turning back to Wheatley for one last view of the room. Then, with a sigh and jump, she was down in the tests with Amber.

"Good luck!"

The girls landed with a whoosh and a crackle, the glass underneath their feet breaking as their weight fell on top of it. There was no more sound from Wheatley, his programming for this part done. The two women groaned in pain at the glass wedged into their feet, Chrissy raising one foot to inspect the bloody skin and cut muscle.

"Well, there go our feet." She muttered, whipping a bit of blood off. Amber nodded, whining a bit as she plucked glass from her own feet as well.

_"Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center." _The announcer greeted, the message warped from the water and plant logged speakers. Amber jumped to a place without glass, swiping the remains of the stained surface to where the small table was. Chrissy helped, picking out a few more bits of glass as she did so. _"We-e are currently experiencing technical difficulties due to circumstances of potentially apocalyptic significance- beyond our control." _Both woman leaned against the wall, wiping blood from their feet onto the ground as they did so. _"However, thanks to Emergency Testing Protocols-"_

"I never remembered this part to be so long…" Amber whimpered, her tank top already stained with blood.

_"Social, economic, or structural collapse."_

"Speaking of, how am I supposed to get through this?" the brunette looked up to the ceiling, her eyes narrowing a bit. "I've never been through any of this, I don't know what to do."

"I'll help. Played this game tons of times, just follow my lead and we'll be fine." Amber reassured her friend, patting the other's shoulder gently.

_"Three, two, one."_ The room shook a moment, both women looking at each other with completely different expressions then the other.

Amber, excitement. Chrissy? Both bewilderment and anxiety. They were in for a party of two.


	3. Testing is Their Future

**Y**

**-Removing…**

**CANNOT PROCESS COMMAND**

**REMOVE [SMLTR HLMT 1] [SMLTR HLMT 2] FROM GAMEPLAY? Y/N**

**Y**

**-Removing…**

He put in order after order, command after command, trying to get the two girls out of the Paradoxial. Simon was getting pretty tired; the machine never followed what he ordered it to do. The large operating systems above him blinked in mockery, the peppy greens and soothing blues only serving as torture.

'Let them go!" He yelled at the machine, smacking the side of the monitor. It only gave the same hum it had before. "They aren't supposed to be in there, let them out!" He tapped on the Y key again, making the same string of process going. Simon growled in frustration, it still couldn't process his command. He glanced over to the two of them. Amber was tensed up, her hands clasped around the arm of the chair. Chrissy was not much more relaxed, her neck craned at an angle that almost stared at Simon. The [PLAYER 2] text on her forehead faced him, looking almost possessed in it's level of creepiness.

He turned right back to the computer, not giving up on his rescue mission. Nobody was here for miles; they had driven here for a bit of summer break to see what Amber had gotten from what was left of her uncle's will. They had a bit of food and drink in the car, but that was all they had- barely enough for a few days' worth for the three of them. It would have to be enough for a rather anxious Simon.

**Y**

**-Removing…**

**CANNOT PROCESS COMMAND**

**REMOVE [SMLTR HLMT 1] [SMLTR HLMT 2] FROM GAMEPLAY Y/N**

**Y**

**-Removing…**

**CANNOT PROCESS COMMAND**

**CANNOT PROCESS COMMAND**

**CANNOT PROCESS COMMAND**

* * *

Chrissy barely gave a glance to the large white sign that announced the test, following Amber down the short hallway still. The big black 2 showed the test number. By now, both of the women were tired of the constant white, even if it was plagued with browns and greens.

They had already retrieved their boots, a welcome thing as their feet were burning from walking around. The cuts were already dried out, any larger forms of glass that still remained picked out before they donned the white boots. The clink of the apparatus was a rather strange addition to their surroundings, but what wasn't already strange there?

Amber looked behind her with a concerned frown, a bit confused as to why Chrissy was lagging behind.

"Chris, you okay?" the orange muttered, shooing a few strands of hair away from her eyes. The brunette nodded, shaking herself a bit and following Amber through the ruined door and into the rather destroyed test. The two started to pick their way through the rubble when a rather familiar (and somewhat unwelcome) voice joined them.

"Hey! You two made it! And you got boots!" The blue-eyed bot appeared through a hole in the wall, bright and cheery as per the norm. Amber smiled a bit as Chrissy narrowed her eyes, jumping to what was left of the floor. The two dusted themselves off from any dust and grime they had accumulated as he continued to speak his script. "Y'know, there should be a pair of portal devices, over there. I can't really… see them, though. Maybe they fell off?" Amber nodded, cautiously peeking around the corner. Chrissy stopped next to her, pulling her hair back a bit as they scoped the area.

The small alcove was covered in plants; the ground a precarious platform above what Amber knew was a large drop. A single portal gun, balanced on top of its stand, was smack dab in the middle of the mess.

"There's only one, though." Chrissy commented to Wheatley, turning her head back to look at him.

"Well, ah… you two _are_ in the single-subject area. Can't really help it too much, really. But one's enough, right?" Amber looked back to Chrissy and nodded, grabbing onto the other's forearm and dragging her towards the fragile ground. "But if you really want another gun, we could- _oh_!" The two collapsed through the ground, Amber's expression of short shock as Chrissy's was of surprise and fear. They fell for the total 40 feet, landing safely on their feet in the large puddle below. A tall splash of water covered the two head to toe, making Chrissy cry out in surprise. The cold water went through their clothes and straight to their skin, making both Amber and Chrissy shiver with the cold wet. They glanced up at each other. The brunette of the two lifted her head up to glare at where they had come from.

"Hello? Do you two see any portal guns?" Wheatley's voice filtered down to them, faraway and just a bit concerned.

"Uh, no portal guns! Just… wet!" Amber called, shaking her hair out a bit as she dragged Chrissy out of the water. She gave no fight to the orange, following silently.

"Uh oh, wet isn't good… You two gonna be okay?" The two of them clambered onto a dry surface, Chrissy hissing has she had to empty her boots of the most likely bacteria-infected water. Amber slid off one to do the same.

"We'll be fine, just need to empty our boots!" Chrissy yelled, picking out a piece of glass that was still lodged into her foot. Amber brushed some hai behind her ear, shivering in the cold air of the underground facility.

"Alright, so- I'll wait for you up ahead, alright? And if you die- then I'll locate your bodies, okay? Thoughts?" Neither of them answered, Chrissy grumbling as she slid her boots right back on. "Ah, okay- go team! See you two up ahead, hopefully. If you're not… dead." The last piece of his dialogue gave a resounding air of finality to the interaction. Chrissy blew a raspberry childishly as she crossed her arms and waited for Amber. The orange staggered around as she pulled on her second boot, standing up and re-tying her jumpsuit.

"Will we dry up on the way?" Amber asked half-mindedly, going towards a lighted clearing with ever-familiar drawings sketched onto old panels. Chrissy shrugged.

"I hope so, it'll be a drag if we have to wear these wet clothes throughout tests." The brunette answered, stepping over one of the many broken panels that littered the ground. Amber nodded, climbing up a platform constructed of similar panels. She picked up an old, green-stained item, balancing it between her hands and smiling. "Is that the gun?"

"Mmhmm." Amber answered, sliding it over her arm. She positioned her fingers into the odd slots, squeezing them experimentally. It turned on with a tired hum, the small light turning blue as it activated. "Now all we have to do is find you one."

* * *

Simon had given up. The Paradoxial wasn't listening to him at all, the program not responding positively to anything he tried to do. He glared up at the computer components above him with hostility, arms crossed as he leaned back into the dusty chair. The girls to the left of him were still, both of their breathing normal and relaxed.

He had already tried to remove the helmets; grabbing onto the edges and pulling gently. Neither of them had given way, firmly attacked to the two. Chrissy only twitched slightly as he tried to pry them off, whilst Amber had given no response.

He was pretty much done. His watch read 2:48- a good hour after they had arrived. He didn't know how fast time passed in… wherever the two girls were. He knew that they were in Portal 2, which was most obvious from the combined knowledge of what disk he had put in and his review of the command history that the computer allowed him to go through. What he was concerned about was the fact that the game had both single player and co-op. In both modes, they were in danger. They had a higher chance of not breaking anything if they were in the latter.

He needed more time to think. So, standing from the old chair, he walked back up the stairs out of the basement, and out of the house. Its deadness lifted a bit as he exited, past the windmill and towards their car. He must have brought some energy bars.

* * *

Stuck in one place, alive and yet dead. Simon must have been panicking by now, and Amber was becoming more and more confident about the game that she had- apparently- memorized. The orange was remembering the tests from her playthroughs, managing to place portals into the perfect place. It took a bit to learn how to aim, sure.

Easy enough to say, Chrissy was rather anxious about her surroundings. Amber had warned her against falling into the pits of questionable liquid, and had saved her from being struck by a falling cube. Mistake after mistake was dished out to her not knowing what to do, not knowing how to aim the the gun, not knowing how to constantly balance on the strange boots that were put on her feet. It was a mystery shack dedicated to the brunette, golden plaque over the door and all.

So there she was, tossing and catching the gun back and forth with Amber as they both tried to finish the single-subject tracks. Chrissy had already dropped the surprisingly slick item a few times, cracks blooming on the smooth surface as she did so. Amber warned her about the miniature black hole that was hidden inside the device, so she tried to keep her dropping tendency to a minimum. It still happened every now and then, forcing Amber to completely take away the gun altogether. Chrissy was a fan of that plan; the orange was much better at the job than her. At least the brunette was good at keeping her grip even when carrying things with the antigravity.

"A little to the left!" Amber called, aiming the portal gun carefully as she watched Chrissy carefully. The brunette nodded, readying herself to jump into the pit. A _whoosh_ announced the blue portal's place, Amber smiling as she shot the ring onto the stained white surface.

Three, two, one. Chrissy jumped down, screaming for her life as she sailed through the air, keeping hold of her hair with one hand. She continued to scream as she went into the orange and out of the blue. The orange stepped aside as the blue-tagged brunette skidded to a landing next to her, the metal heels of the long-fall boots creating sparks as it scratched against the metal of the panel. She yelped as the bright sparkles appeared, rubbing a bit of her jumpsuit leg instinctively. Amber laughed a bit, helping the woman up as she offered a hand. Chrissy accepted the offer, heaving herself up and brushing dirt and such off of herself. The orange helped her re-arrange her hair a bit, then led the way down the rickety stairs and into the cramped elevator. It had been discovered that it took awhile for the small unit to go down its jumpy ride. It gave them the perfect opportunity to talk.

"So, uh… We're gonna see Wheatley again. Letting you know." Amber commented, collapsing onto the ground and prying off her pair of boots, rubbing her tired feet. Crusted blood peeled off as she did so.

"I don't trust him. He seems suspicious." Amber spluttered a laugh at the brunette's words, shaking her head as more blood flakes drifted onto the ground. Chrissy didn't react much beyond a huff.

"Ah, Chris, that's far too close to the mark as I could hope." She rubbed the last bit of dried blood off of her feet, picking a few more pieces of glass out of her right foot before starting to put the boots back on. "But! No spoilers for what's coming ahead. You've gotta experience it all for yourself, while I shoot all of your portals for you." Amber stood, although wobbly, grasping onto the dark rail that connected the elevator to the tube.

"As long as I don't die by the hand of that blue-eyed lunatic, I'll be just fine. You got a hair tie?" She was trying to knot her hair up without much success. Amber shook her head, instead grabbing onto the brown locks herself and trying a hand at the brunette's hair. Common core knowledge between the two; one of Amber's first jobs was a hair stylist. Chrissy stood still as the slightly taller girl went at her hair, tugging and pulling it around as she worked with it. A particularly rough bump in the elevator's journey made Chrissy yelp in pain, Amber having accidentally yanked a few strands of her hair out.

"Oops…" the orange cringed and smiled in apology as the brunette turned with an annoyed glare. She shook her head, then turned and continued to wait for her hair to get done with.

The unit was just finishing it's descent into the next testing area as Amber finished. "There you go, spick as spam. Don't twist it around your hand or anything, the knot will get messed up." The brunette reached around and grabbed the rope of hair as Amber grabbed the gun and escaped out of the small elevator. The orange had made it into a simple braid.

"Lots of hullaballoo for a simple braid!"

_"To ensure that sufficient power remains for core testing protocols…"_

"I give a hullaballoo where it's needed!" Amber retorted, leading the way up the aluminum stairs and through the door. Chrissy followed dubiously, glancing back and forth when she crossed into the room. Her eyes widened a smidge in surprise as she surveyed the test. Or rather, a lack of a test.

"Hey! Oi oi! I'm up here!" A too-familiar voice piped up from the ruined corner. Amber perked up as Chrissy's face slid into a scowl. The two ventured further into the room, Wheatley appearing around the corner of the wall. "Brilliant! You two did find a portal gun! You've only got one though… did you two have trouble in the tests at all?"

"We did fine. A few bumps." Chrissy yelled back, letting herself relax a bit. She still kept her guard up as Amber aimed the gun at the wall behind the blue core.

"Well, good job anyway. Team work and all that." Amber nodded as she shot the single blue portal behind the core, the orange one on a tilted panel becoming clear. Chrissy jumped at the unexpected noise as she looked over to where the bot was. "-was just about to mention that, actually. Good job, uh… Amber! Always a step ahead. So just come over, and I'll meet over on this side of the room." The orange nodded, glancing down into the portal before jumping into it and through to the other side.

"C'mon, Chrissy! It's just fine, nothing's bad." The brunette glanced through the ring. She held her breath, jumping a bit on her toes. One foot through, then the next brought her to a crashing halt on the floor. Wheatley gave a worried glance over, and _then_ continued with his planned dialogue. Amber helped the brunette up as he went.

"Okay, I'm gonna lay something on you here, pretty heavy… We've gotta go behind-the-scenes here, but they told me never, never _ever_ detach myself from the rail, or I would die." Chrissy hid a smirk as she dusted herself off, flipping her braid behind her back. Amber grabbed ahold of the gun again as she nodded. "But, we're sort of out of options here. Took long enough for me to even get here." Both orange and brunette glanced at each other, keeping silent as he continued to talk. "So, get ready to catch me, on the off chance that I'm not dead the very second I pop off this thing. Okay? Christine, did you catch that?"

"I'm not deaf, you know." She muttered, but nodded anyway.

"Okay, good. On three, ready?" Amber positioned herself underneath the bot, shoving the portal gun into Chrissy's arms. The brunette stumbled backwards as the device was forcefully given to her. "One… Two… THREE! Oh noo…" He zoomed backwards, shaking a bit as he did so. "That's too high, isn't it really, that? Why don't you come up and, you know-"

'Wheatley!" Chrissy scolded, positioning the gun in a better position as so she wouldn't drop it. "Just do it! What're you afraid of, heights?" The silence from him told enough. Amber straightened up, Shaking her head in disappointment. Wheatley looked back and forth between them, not daring to making eye contact and not giving an answer.

'I can't believe this…"

"H-hey! It's a very reasonable fear to have, heights! Lots of things have it. I bet even one of you do!" Chrissy's sharp intake of surprise was silent compared to the rest of the room. The feeling was quickly replaced by impatience.

"_Wheatley get down here or I'll go up there myself!_" Chrissy yelled up to him. Amber nodded, flipping a bit of hair behind her ear.

"Going on three does give you too much time to think about it, doesn't it? So, we'll go on one, this time. Okay Amber?" The orange nodded, holding her arms up to catch him. The brunette watched with continued impatience and annoyance as the scene in front of her went on.

"One CATCHMECATCHMECATCHMECATCHME-" Wheatley yelped, falling from the rail quickly. Amber tried to grab him, her arms just at an off position that he slipped right through them. And right on top of her head. Amber yelled in pain at the sudden contact, crumpling on the floor and curling up. The bot rolled off of her back, across the floor, and hitting the wall opposite. He gave a cry of pain as well. Chrissy rushed forward to see Amber's head, the orange shaking a bit. The gun was discarded onto the ground as the brunette combed through orange hair, searching for any sort of developing bump or bruises. Amber gave a moan of pain as Chrissy went over one area, right on the crown of her head.

"Aha, ha! I'm alive!" Wheatley said from his corner, turning so he looked at Chrissy. She snapped her neck to look at him, eyes blazing.

"When I get over there, you'll wish you were _dead_." Chrissy hissed, making his eye shrink in fear.

"Ah, um…" He didn't really react much beyond shocked stuttering, instead watching silently as the brunette tended to her friend. The air was permeated by the heavy silence.

"I'm okay…" Amber muttered, swatting Chrissy's hands away that got into her face. "Just hurts a bit, nothing serious…" The orange tried to stand, allowing Chrissy to help her up.

The brunette's eyes narrowed in frustration as Amber's slightly taller stature didn't let her inspect her head any longer. "Chrissy, I'm fine. Let's just keep going." The orange swatted away the brunette's hand, walking towards Wheatley to pick him up. "We're bound to get out of here soon."

"You okay, Amber? I nicked ya pretty hard?" The bot asked, concerned for the woman's condition. The orange nodded, glancing back to Chrissy.

'Where's the gun?" The brunette shrugged, glancing around the ground for the object. It was found sideways, next to her foot. Bending down and grabbing it, Chrissy holstered it onto her own arm instead of giving it to Amber.

"I'll hold onto him, if you don't mind. Gotta keep an eye, and I need practice with this thing." The orange nodded, stepping aside as Chrissy tested her limited skill with the device. Wheatley gave a sound of surprise as Chrissy picked him up instead of Amber, completely expecting different from the one that gave him nothing but hostility.

"Plug me in over at that port, right? And I'll show you what I can do. You'll be impressed by this, promise." Chrissy glanced around, spotting the newly opened port area. Amber followed silently as she put Wheatley in the port. It grabbed him securely.

"And now…?"

"Oh, I can't do it if you're watching."

"Seriously?" Chrissy muttered under her breath, rubbing her temples gently. Amber's head must still hurt terribly, and she just wanted to get this all over with. The brunette wanted to take care of her friend.

"No, I'm not, not joking. Could you turn around for a second? Simple request, won't be long." Chrissy nodded and turned, Amber following one second later.  
'Can't believe it, have to turn around…" Chrissy grumbled, crossing her arms. Amber rubbed her head a bit.

"Alright, you can turn around now!" They followed the directive, Chrissy holding up the gun in preparation to grab onto the core again. "BAM! Secret panel. That I opened, while your back was turned." Said panel opened halfway before sparking a bit, only a small space to squeeze through available. "…oh."

"So, onward?" Wheatley nodded as Chrissy picked him up again, Amber following behind as they squeezed through the open panel, and into the area behind.

"Look at this! No rail to tell us where to go!"

"None to tell _you_ where to go." He ignored the comment given, looking around within the confines of the antigravity he was in.

"This is brilliant! We can go wherever we want." They passed through a pair of doors, Chrissy leading now as Amber trailed. Wheatley still went on with his dialogue.

"Well, we're still limited by the catwalk. Our version of the ever-present rail." Chrissy glanced up to the long, winding band of metal that controlled Wheatley's life the whole time.

"Ah well. Better than nothing, I suppose. Are you sure Amber's okay for walking?" He glanced over the brunette's shoulder over to said orange. She was stumbling a bit, holding her head gently as she followed the two without question. Chrissy stopped and turned, waiting for her to catch up.

'Amber, if you feel bad, it's fine. We can stop for a bit." Amber shook her head, pressing past the two. Chrissy didn't look down as they passed a vertical tube stuffed thick with cubes and dead turrets.

"I'm fine, we've got to get this over with. Simon's probably worried sick."

"Simon? Now who's-"

"Hello? Hello?" The three passed through another tunnel, Amber promptly tripping over a pile of cubes. She gasped as she came face-to-eye with a white, ovate, red-eyed bot. Wheatley audibly gasped behind her, while Chrissy stared in confusion.

That snapped Amber out of her stupor. She scrambled up, grabbing a cube, and lifting it above her. The pile slightly crumbled underneath her, leading all the way to the broken pipe.

"The two who have come will stop the Queen!" It cried pitifully, staying still as it awaited its eventual destiny. Amber paused, cube mid-air as she remembered. The voice was rather familiar, even if it wasn't supposed to appear quite yet.

"Smash it, quickly!" Wheatley cried out, wincing as he watched it. Chrissy was still confused; watching in silence as Amber slowly put the cube down.

"Wait a second…" The orange murmured, walking up to the turret. It opened its wings out a bit, the aiming laser pointed right at her forehead. She didn't move, still cautious. "I think it's-"

"The Orange will lead away!" The turret yelled out, waterlogged speakers making the message fuzzy and barely intelligible. Chrissy's eyebrows knitted even further in confusion at Wheatley's panicked reaction to Amber's peaceful outlook to the small device.

"Guys, its fine. The turret's safe."

"Are you out of your bloody mind?! That will kill you within seconds of picking it up. Ticking time bomb, right there! Just ready to release fire." The blue-eyed bot turned back to Chrissy. "C'mon, Christine! Tell her I'm right. Ol' Wheatley is right about those things. Ready to kill you both! And how would that help you up to the surface, with me?" The brunette looked up at Amber, whom was picking up the small turret in her arms. The orange was surprised to find that the white bot weighed very little compared to the core. Chrissy stepped over a few cubes, standing on one as Amber made her way through the debris of the busted pipe.

"I think it's safe, Wheat." The brunette assured him, ignoring his rather… irritated glare. "Doesn't look like it's going to harm anything."

"Down under we will fall, to where the green arrow commands his subjects!" The turret cried out in Amber's arms, wings still slightly out as it surveyed the two. "Keep going!"

Amber nodded, securing her grip on the machine, nodding back to Chrissy and a rather infuriated Wheatley. "It's right, we have to keep going. Wheatley, I'm keeping this thing, and there's no naysay about it. Understand?"

"No!"

"Well then too bad. Chock it up to 'humanity'." Amber nodded to Chrissy to keep going, the two clambering over cubes and dead turrets as they went into yet another alcove area. The blue-eyed bot stayed silent as they made their way through one door, and into a small room leading to the next.

"Okay, all points aside, I'll probably need to bring you up to speed on something right now." The four went through the second door, into a dank and dark hallway. Even the turret was paying attention to the core, laser pointed at him silently. "In order to escape, we're going to have to go through HER chamber."

"What."

"And… she will probably kill us. On sight. If she's, um, awake. Turret's probably on her side, just waiting for the cue."

"I'm different!" it bleated, shaking it's wings a bit to show innocence.

"Yeah, good, alright. So, if you two just want to call it quits… We could just sit here. Forever."

"Wheatley…" Chrissy sighed, glancing over at Amber. He was really doing this _now_?

"That's a good option, option A: sit here forever, don't move. Option B: almost certainly die if she's awake, and we go in there. Pretty unfortunate odds right there, for option B."

"Wheatley, we're going in there." Chrissy scolded, walking ahead of Amber as they went into a failing glass bridge. Amber followed behind, the turret's laser roaming everywhere. Through the glass of the sideways hall, they could see nothing beyond a grey haze. Chrissy held her breath as she saw the floor-less area, turning back to her path quickly as to not look down. They barely made it to the black door at the end when Wheatley piped up again.

"Okay, I'm gonna lay my cards on the table, I don't want to go in there, I don't want to do it. Don't- don't go in there!" The two humans went through the door, Chrissy raising an eyebrow at the plant-covered deadness of it. "She's off! Panic over she's off, nothing dangerous. Alright, on we go!"

"Over-reaction much?" Chrissy whispered into Amber's ear, making the orange stifle a laugh. The blue-eyed bot didn't seem to notice, instead looking ahead to survey the room. Green plants hung every which way from bent metal. The human's boots splashed into puddles of water, roots seeping their energy from it as they kept climbing the large spears of metal that stuck from the ground.

"She should really keep this place clean, being dead isn't really an excuse…" Amber muttered, stepping over a few broken panels. Chrissy nodded in agreement as she walked ahead, boots trudging through dirty water of questionable origin.

"Well, there she is…" Wheatley whispered rather loudly. "What a nasty piece of work she was honestly. A proper maniac."  
"Insanity personified can be defeated!" the turret agreed, conveying it's words through the waterlogged speakers. Static made its voice almost too blurred to be made out.

"Mmhmm, she's right. Do you know who ended up, uh, ended up taking her down in the end?" Chrissy shook her head as she inspected the glass of the giant robot's eye. Amber held out a hand in warning, but have up as Chrissy still looked through the large head. 'You're not going to believe this- a pair of humans!"

"Amazing. Can't believe it." Amber said from behind them, putting the turret down for a second's breather. She leaned against the hull, petting down unruly flyaways in her hair.

"I know! I wouldn't have believed it either. But apparently these guys escaped, and nobody's seen them since."

"Snoozing a couple of beers in Hawaii?" Chrissy offered, standing up and brushing dirt and debris from her jumpsuit. Amber shook her head, pointing back and forth between them before the blue-eyed bot could see. Both acted causal as he turned back.

"Then there was this huge chunk of time where absolutely _nothing_ happened. And then there's us escaping now, pretty much the whole story. Both of you are up to speed here."

"Well thanks for the intr-"

'Don't touch anything." Wheatley interrupted, glancing over to the turret. "Already broken that rule, I admit. Quite a few times. Don't touch anything else."

"I'm different!" The white bot repeated, laser roaming every which way. Neither Chrissy nor Amber moved or flinched out of its way.

'Sure you are. Look, girls, why not just leave this behind? Good company for Her, right?" Amber shrugged as she picked the turret right back up, the small thing closing its wings.

"It'll be fun to have her with us, Wheats!"

"Now we're assigning it a _gender_? What's next, a name?" Chrissy gave no answer as she followed Amber, around the large chassis and through a large puddle of water. Amber winced at the _squish_ their boots made in the thick mud hidden under the green-brown liquid. The turret's legs barely grazed the top of the water, making small rings on the surface.

Chrissy jumped onto a short, cylindrical piece of metal, holding the portal gun in both arms as she posed dramatically. Arms out, legs splayed to an almost leaning position, Wheatley ahead.

"Reach for the stars!" She screamed, Amber laughing underneath her. The turret made no sound.

"Could there be a bit less reaching involved please?" Wheatley requested, turning around in his antigravity prison. Amber laughed harder, the turret offering a few words that were drowned out by Amber's mirth.

Chrissy secured her grip on the gun, almost dropping it as she jumped down from the cylinder with a grunt. Wheatley gave a small panic as her hand slipped from the side, almost making her drop the gun- and in extension him- onto the ground below. Amber raised a hand to help, but was already holding a turret, so gave up on the attempt. The brunette waved them off quickly.

"Getting used to it, getting used to it… Maybe I'll actually be able to aim, after all of this."

"Maybe, if you can get used to actually _gripping the gun_." The orange said, hoisting the turret into a better position in her arms. Both laughed at this, ignoring the blue-eyed bot's dialogue as they went down a small group of stairs.  
"Jump! Wait, actually looking at it, that is quite a distance isn't it?" Amber grabbed onto Chrissy's shoulder as the brunette almost fell of the edge, small bits of dirt falling off of her boots and landing below.

"Too late a warning! Too late a warning!" The brunet yelled, backing up a few steps and grabbing hold to the handrail next to her. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the edge, frozen from the sight of the dark drop.

"Well, actually, go ahead and jump! You've got braces on your legs, and thus will be protected from anything. No braces on your arms though…"

'Wheatley, be quiet." Amber hissed, smacking his case the best she could.

"The Orange will lead the way!" The turret cried out, voice even muggier from their trip through the water. Amber nodded, securing her hold onto the turret and promptly jumping off the edge. Chrissy gasped, glancing down through the lattice of the catwalk and down below. Darkness answered her, along with the sound of crashing metal.

"Alrighty, over the edge, off you go! Keep a good grip on the gun!" Wheatley assured, twisting and turning inside the antigravity. Chrissy shook her head, glancing back down. The faint voice of the turret floated up, Amber yelling as well. The brunette shook her head again, held her breath, and walked up to the edge. She didn't open her eyes as she jumped off, yet she did join Wheatley's screaming with some of her own. They landed on the other half of the catwalk, a round of applause following it.

"Still held! Still being held, that's wonderful. Grip was applied, didn't lose hold of that gun, we're all fine." Amber patted Chrissy on the shoulder, leading on as Wheatley finished his dialogue. Off the remains of the catwalk and into a tunnel, a row of lights making the normally dark area a bit brighter.

"The two who have come will stop the Queen!"

* * *

"It's… it's moving up." Wheatley pointed out, Chrissy holding tightly to the edge of the computer port he was plugged into. The turret cried out another message in it's precariously balanced place, Amber holding on to it with one hand.

"Noo, it can't be! No way!" Chrissy yelled in mock surprise, staring upwards as the ceiling above them opened up.

"Okay, it's fine! I've got it, I've got it. _This_ should slow it down!" The platform paused as the bot took a second to log in. Amber gave an exhale of relief, before crying out in alarm as it instead zoomed upwards. "No, makes it go faster."

"Wheatley, I am going to kill you when this is over!" Chrissy hissed, stepping backwards to regain her balance as they stopped. The platform was resting right where they were before, inside Her chamber.

"Uh oh." Was all that Wheatley had to offer. Both girls were about to yell at him before the announcer showed itself again.

_"Powerup initiated."_

"Oh no, no nonooo…" Chrissy moaned, looking over to Amber. A similar expression of fear was streaked across the orange's face. The giant robot in front of them was re-assembling, the sound of metal and wires filling the air around them. Sparks flew by violently from the assembly, towards the small party of four.

"Okay, don't you two panic! Stop panicking. I can still stop it, not a problem." Amber grabbed on to the turret, balancing it up on its tripod legs. It wiggled its wings as it repeated yet another message. "There's a password, no worries! I'll just hack it, not a problem. Um…" Chrissy turned back as to run, but was stopped clean by a trio of walls that rose up above them. Escape wasn't much of an option.

"We're trapped…" She whispered to Amber, eyes wide in fear at the sight of Her moving some more.

"What did you expect from a planned storyline?" The orange hissed back, one hand on the port box that Wheatley was in.

"A A A, A A umm… A." A loud buzzer signaled that his attempt was false. "Okay then. A A A, A A… C." Another buzzer followed, making Amber's teeth grit.

"What do we do?" Chrissy asked, looking up at the assembling robot again. "I haven't played this before!"

"Follow my lead." Amber reassured, standing straight as Wheatley continued his planned dialogue.

"Wait, did I do B? Do either of you have a pen, start writing these down."

_"Powerup complete."_

"Okay, okay we can work with that. New plan, act natural. Act natural! We've done nothing wrong. Hello!" The large robot snapped her head up, gazing down at the party of four. Chrissy was shaking a bit, as Amber tried to fake her confident stature once again. The turret's laser gazed over Her, no sound coming from it's waterlogged speakers beyond quiet static. There was a moment's pause, filled with thick anticipation of the moment to come and whoever was brave enough to say anything next.

"Oh. It's _you_." She broke it.


	4. The Queen of Parts

_Thank you, Tiana. That part was supposed to be confusing._

* * *

**_Chapter 3: The Queen of Parts_**

"You _know_ her?" Amber nodded, Chrissy shrugged. Wheatley glanced from one to the other, wondering on which one to believe more. The turret gave a small squeak of a message.

"It's been a long time. How have you been?"

"Wonderfully! Not much has changed. Solving tests, pushing buttons, eating one-up mushrooms. And you?" Amber acted casual, leaning against the port Wheatley was in. Chrissy stood straighter, letting a sarcastic appearance replace the evident fear through her posture.

"I've been keeping myself busy, being dead. You know, after you _murdered_ me?" The brunette flicked her eyes towards the orange, pushing hair away from her face as if there was nothing wrong. 'Kill?' she mouthed, Amber nodding in reply. Chrissy looked back to the situation at hand. She didn't n=know what was about to happen, but everything was climbing up to a rather tragic-looking climax.

"You did _what_?" The core's sentence was cut short as claws descended from the ceiling, grabbing onto the party of four. Amber struggled in the grasp, trying to tug herself out and away. Chrissy had dropped the single portal gun. "No! nonono no no!" The shattering of the device on the ground was followed by small splashes of debris flying into water, finalizing their way out to impossible. Sparks followed it as She crushed the small blue-eyed core into silence. Chrissy paused, looking at the crushed core, feeling the tiniest bit of sadness at the sight of him dead. The brunette looked up to Her, scanning for any way to get out minus the gun. They were pretty much trapped, yes, but if one of them could just get out…

An inscription caught her eye, worn and almost illegible. Sprawled across one of the ruined wires of Her body, Chrissy could barely read it. **GLaDOS: Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System**.

"Dispensing…" The turret cried out, followed by a round of bullets. The small bits of metal flew every which way, the laser roaming everywhere as it tried to locate a target. "Insanity personified can be defeated!" it squeaked through static. GlaDOS screamed as one caught her in the eye, a good number along her hydraulics as well. Sparks flew everywhere as bullets grazed metal and pockmarked Her chassis with dents. Amber covered her head as a few bullets flew above her.

The turret screamed as She tossed it aside, followed by a well-crushed Wheatley. A pair of splashes followed them into the abyss of out of view.

"I'll deal with you two later." She growled, composing herself to a more passive-aggressive tone as to talk to her murderers two. GLaDOS turned around, barely able to see the due from the bullet in her eye. She tightened her grip through the claws, continuing with her dialogue. "Okay, look. We've both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. And that includes that turret." Chrissy looked towards where the small item was thrown, having to crane her neck to see a glint of white. A jerk from the claw moving made her look back to Amber and Her. "But I think we might be able to put our differences behind us. For science. You monsters." Amber kept struggling against her bonds, even if the supercomputer was bringing the pair to where Chrissy had posed, only minutes before. The orange knew the game, and knew that where they were going wasn't good. "I will say though, that since you both went through all that trouble just to wake me up, you must really, _really_ love to test."

"What can I say? Special hobby." Amber retorted, trying to keep up her confident façade. GLaDOS hummed in consideration.

"Hmm. I love it too. There's just one small thing we need to take care of first." Amber yelled in alarm as she was suddenly dropped through the newly opened cylinder, Chrissy screaming as she was dropped as well. The echoes of their cries was cut short quickly as the top was closed after them.

GLaDOS turned back around, searching the ground for two shocks of white through a broken eye. She found one eventually, the waterlogged speakers gabbling yet another message. She grabbed it gently, trying not to crush it. The supercomputer had a better punishment than that.

"You helped them. Why?"

"The oranggg-g-geeee will lead the wa-aaa-ay!" It spluttered, wings wiggling a bit as it struggled with all the force it could. The attempt was all for naught, GLaDOS had to turret in such a grip that the white bot could't do anything. It tried to shoot off another round of bullets, only being answered by empty clicking. If GLaDOS could smirk, she would.

"Oh, no bullets left. What a shame." She lifted the small object up and around, bringing it close for inspection. It seemed to shiver in her gaze, however badly the robot's eye was damaged. Even the turret knew not to mess with the queen of Aperture when She was angry. "I've got a very _special_ place for you."

* * *

And so they fell. Amber's screaming mixed in with Chrissy's, making the pipe echo loudly. The orange's hair flew by her face, her gazing downwards with wide eyes as plates smashed together under them. In the back of her mind, she knew that GLaDOS was teasing them. Testing was what She was after, and wouldn't kill them until She was satisfied with their performance. Amber turned her head up to the brunette, eyebrows knitted in concern for the frightened girl. Her own screaming stopped as her partner's continued.

"We'll be fine!" Amber tried to yell, her voice drowned out by the air rushing past them. Chrissy didn't answer.

They landed seconds later with a loud crash, Chrissy stumbling as she didn't expect the impact. Amber caught her arm, helping pull her up before she landed into the burning below. They were right at the edge.

"Here we are, the Incinerator Room. Careful not to trip over any parts of be that didn't completely burned when you threw them down here." Chrissy threw her messy braid over her shoulder again, nodding as Amber cautiously led the way through the room. The hot substance underneath them didn't do anything to kill them as they went right over rickety bridges of bent metal. "Your dual portal devices should be around here somewhere. Once you find them, we can start testing. Just like old times." They secured their position on the next island of a floor, Amber holding onto Chrissy's arm securely. Their grasp locked tightly, the brunette decided to speak up.

"So, we apparently killed an almighty force that's in charge around here."

"Mmhmm." Amber hummed in confirmation, tapping her foot on the next makeshift bridge. Beyond a weak creaking, it stood stable. "That all happened in Portal one. We killed her when we tried to escape." They both jumped as a fireball of trash flew right by them, splashing into the inferno beneath. The orange quickly dashed across the bridge, dragging her companion behind her. She didn't want to risk anything else that could hit them, even if it never happened in the game.

"And the turret?"

"Only for this game." They hopped into the final island, Chrissy taking a glance behind her. "We've got to be careful, though. Any wrong move and we'll go spiraling into a storyline even I don't know about. Just keep small, don't react much. Who knows how badly we changed everything just by bringing that turret with us…"

"Coming through!" a turret called from one of the pipes, Amber turning hopefully. The small thing didn't even acknowledge her before sliding down into the incinerator. The orange huffed, losing her hold on Chrissy as they clambered over a pile of metal into another room. The brunette led the way now, perking up as she saw a familiar white hull.

"Amber!"

"There it is." The two walked to it, Amber leaning down and sliding her arm underneath the panel to grab it. She tugged back, only met with it being firmly crushed underneath the panel. "Hold on. Don't hurt yourself." The panel's light flickered to life, the small joint that controlled it prying the plate up. Chrissy stood back as the orange impatiently waited, snatching the gun from under the panel as soon as it was free. Standing, she secured it over her arm. It blinked to life slowly, the lights inside turning an orange color. "There. You have a dual portal device. There should be a way to the functional testing area up ahead." There was no more from Her, the room silent as Amber weighed the new device in her arms.

"Only one, though?" Chrissy questioned, looking around the floor for a second. "That's it? No more?" Amber shrugged, positioning her fingers inside the device according to the new 3-button layout for her hand.

"We'll probably get another one. Maybe there'll be a new set in the chambers ahead." The orange shot off a round of portals, the portal next to her on the blank wall. She poked her head through, then waved to Chrissy in a sign that it was safe. Before the brunette could react, Amber was gone through the hole. The remaining companion clambered over, almost tripping on one of the metal pieces. Chrissy squeezed her eyes shut and jumped through the high-placed portal. She landed loudly.

"Once testing starts, I'm required by protocol to keep interaction with you to a minimum. Luckily, we haven't started testing yet. This will be our only chance to talk." Amber held out her hand in comfort as the brunette squeezed her eyes shut tighter, whimpering a bit as she lifted her foot off of the ground.  
'What's wrong?" Amber hissed, aiming the gun at another wall.

"Glass. I think it's still in my system. Doesn't't hurt too much, but…"

"You've got to live through it, no medical anythings as far as I know." An orange portal bloomed on the white surface, a blue following a second later next to the two. Chrissy groaned as she walked along, through the portals that Amber placed and into yet another portion of the hallway they were in.

"Here. Let me get that for you." They both jumped as a large panel moved to their right, clearing all debris from its surface. Amber aimed and shot. "Do you know the biggest lesson I learned from what you did?"

"Bake cookies at 375 for perfect crispness?" Chrissy offered, jumping through the portal right after Amber. She winced as she smashed into the ground again.

"Ha ha. I have a sort of black-box quick-save feature. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the last two minutes of my life are preserved for analysis." Amber nodded, leading the way around a corner right. She aimed and shot once more.

'This is getting really repetitive…" Chrissy murmured, jumping through the new portal once again.

"I was able- well, forced really- to relive you both killing me again and again. Forever."

'Yeah, no offense interrupting your rather loud monologue, but looks like Amber and I are split between one portal gun." Chrissy yelled, looking up to the ceiling to where she presumed GLaDOS' voice was coming from. "Not to be selfish, but it's much more effective to have two guns each instead of one for a pair." There was silence, Amber smacking the brunette in the arm as she went across the gap via portals. Panels twitched back into place, some not moving at all. The orange avoided touching one, staying silent as she listened for any off-dialogue reply from the supercomputer. It came a moment later, a large white sign giving a large crash as it blasted on.

"You're right. Let's find you a portal device, then. Let me move these out of the way for you." A row of panels rose slowly, revealing a catwalk behind. Amber stayed behind as Chrissy surveyed the area, looking back with knitted eyebrows. "Don't go anywhere, I'm onto all of your little tricks. So there's nothing keeping you from staying here and testing for the rest of your life." The panels twitched as they went the slightest bit higher, just letting Amber bent down to go through. "After that, who knows? I might take up a hobby. Reanimating the dead, maybe."

The two stood straighter in the higher tunnel, looking around with bland interest. GLaDOS stopped speaking, so Amber decided that this was a good time to talk as she led the way once more. They were placed onto yet another catwalk, the area around them a simple tunnel.

"She's going to try to kill us. Heads up."

"Yeah, I sort of got that hint when she threw us into the incinerator." Chrissy muttered, their path starting to be obscured by random pieces of metal. "Her dialogue's all awkward, even I can tell."

"It's not according to the game script. The game's trying to compensate for two people, two people that can talk back. We're not supposed to be on this catwalk, we're supposed to go down a hallway and to an elevator." They jumped down a small ledge, a shipping tube to their right starting to retrieve its normal flow of items. They walked on, a few opportunities for the portal gun popping up. Amber used them quickly and swiftly, guiding them through the holes.

"Turn right, and go through that door." GLaDOS piped up through the speakers, fuzz filtering through as she spoke. They came to a cross in the catwalk, the conjoined area just over a large drop-off. Chrissy kept her gaze upwards as they followed Her instructions, arriving to a door at the end. Amber jiggled the handle, the room firmly locked from the inside. "Let me take care of that for you." They expected the red lock next to the door to beep green, but instead witnessed a panel reach over and smash the doorknob in. It retreated back to its place as the door creaked. Amber gaped, portal gun hanging at her side. Chrissy pressed through, peeping around for any sign of a portal gun. There was none, instead a row of computers and a broken window to another test chamber. The brunette reached behind her and grabbed her companion, kicking the door the rest of the way. It gave way, becoming another piece of metal that they had to scramble over.

"No portal gun?" Amber offered, shaking herself out of her shock as she surveyed the room with Chrissy. No characteristic white hull showed itself, only a few computers and a test chamber beyond to offer anything.

"Through the window. It should be just ahead." GLaDOS informed through the small speakers of the computers. Chrissy held in a laugh at the sound of Her voice through the smaller computers. Amber smacked her shoulder, taking the next moment to jump through the window. Chrissy stayed inside the room for one moment longer, then followed her partner onto the glass-covered ground below. The crackling of glass was the only sound as they looked through the room. Chrissy perked up as she spotted a portal gun, having to look above her normal point of view to see it.

"Portal here, portal there." Amber hummed, the orange right next to her as she walked through and reached through the portal. She came back to the other with the gun in her left hand, sparkling clean and as new as one could be that was waiting in a chamber for years. Chrissy took it quickly, sliding it over her arm as it powered up. The hum that came from it was instantaneous and much more healthy-sounding than the one Amber donned.

"Good. You both have dual portal devices. Orange, please don't drop this one." Amber perked her head up, blue tag jiggling from her ear.

"I haven't dropped one, though?"

"Not you, Blue. Orange." Amber snapped her head to Chrissy, seeing the orange tag that decorated her friend's ear. The redhead huffed in frustration as she stormed past the brunette, looking for a way out. They found it, a single button leading to the door to open. There were no buttons in sight, as Amber surveyed the rather small room again.

"No cubes?"

'All of the pipes are still clogged. You'll have to use your imagination." GLaDOS offered, sneaking a say through the speakers. Chrissy nodded, looking around for anything that could push down the button. A glint of light caught her attention.

"Amber!" She called, walking over to the large piece of metal. The redhead appeared a second later, observing the metal strip that was perched at an angle against the wall. Chrissy wrapped a hand around it and pulled, the corner giving way in a shower of dirt.

Seconds later, the two were dragging it along the ground, one hand each. A few sparks and high-pitched screeches from the metal echoed around the room as Amber grabbed with both hands, portal gun left behind.

The small dots on the wall lit up yellow as the metal shard was secured on top of it, the door opening with a tired sigh. The redhead ran back to grab her gun as the brunette walked ahead. There was silence from above as they crammed into the small elevator.

"That didn't count as testing, by the way. You still have a number of chambers before its done." Her voice went through the speakers of the elevator as the unit started an upward ascent. Chrissy ignored the voice, taking her gun off and examining it closely.

"Much better than that one, eh?" The brunette offered, referring to the cracked, burned, discolored one that Amber wore. The redhead glanced down at hers, tightening her grip.

"I think its better that you have the good one. I've played the game, and can- supposedly- shoot right." She raised her arm and aimed, trying to imagine the crosshair that would show in front of the screen. Chrissy poked the blue light on top.

"What do we do if GLaDOS finds out that we can't aim?"

'Either pawn it off as mental deterioration, or try to hide it as best as we can. She'll notice, though." The redhead answered, rubbing a spot of dirt off of her portal gun.

"She'll notice how much?"

'Everything." Chrissy's shoulders sank as she thought of what that word could encompass. What was in store for them?

* * *

**Summary**

**SUMMARY [PARADOXIAL]**

**-Made in 1997. Completed [AWAITING INFORMATION]. Creator, Andrew [REDACTED]. Purpose was to complete the Gold Project.**

**Summary: Gold Project**

**SUMMARY [GOLD PROJECT]**

**-A project that spans across many devices, including the Paradoxial, SplashGears, and Golden. The Gold Project is used for [AWAITING INFORMATION] and has been in development since 1973.**

That was the answer, wasn't it? Simon sighed, leaning back in the chair as the loud crunch of trail mix filed the semi-silent air. The clicking and whirring of the large computer consoles above him still worked away, the command history that it allowed him to see showing every little detail that it had changed inside the game that his friends were in.

But SplashGears? Golden? What were these other two devices, and where were they? He didn't know, and was wary to find out. He was supposed to be helping Amber and Chrissy get out of the game. Simon ran a hand through his hair, looking back and forth from the computer screen to the both of them.

Why not? They were fine. They didn't need any help right now, and from what the Paradoxial's command history was showing, they were doing well. He placed his hands on the keyboard and started typing.

**Summary: SplashGears**

**SUMMARY [SPLASHGEARS]**

**-A project located inside New York City, this large supercomputer has the potential to change the world. In Development since 1974, it is able to create global...**

And so he went.

* * *

"Well done. Here come the test results: You are both horrible people." Chrissy waved off the comment as she went through the door, a cube'd button and laser behind her inside the testing chamber. Amber, however, was paying attention. "I'm serious, that's what it says. Horrible people. We weren't even testing for that." Neither of the two replied. Cubes and turrets alike flew up the pipe, soon replaced by an elevator waiting for them. The brunette climbed in, grabbing her partner's shoulder and dragging her in before the unit went down once more. The chambers were getting repetitive already, nothing much changing from oe area to another. It was lways just another puzzle to solve.

"You okay?" Chrissy muttered, getting a few hairs out of the redhead's face. "Is she getting to you?" Amber shook her head, standing straighter with a loud sigh.

"It'll be worse later. She'll target your weight, for sure." Chrissy shrugged, indifferent to what could be ahead.

"I'm fine. Nothing's wrong with my body."

"Are you sure?" The brunette nodded, flipping her braid back over her shoulder. Amber knew about her partner's previous bullying on the subject, and knew that the brunette might be weak against that.

"Completely. Now, we've got to be quiet, right? No satisfaction of an answer, like you said." The redhead nodded, smiling gently as they descended into the next testing area.

"Don't let that 'horrible person' thing discourage you. It's just a data point. If it makes you feel any better, science has now validated you're birth mothers' decisions to leave you both abandoned on doorsteps." It was an empty tease, one that neither of them gave any attention to. Chrissy kept her foot up a bit as she waited for Amber to come up the stairs and activate the door. The glass still hurt.

* * *

Everything was cold. A deadly cold, nothing to aim at, nothing to shoot. The turret kept its wings in, laser roaming everywhere to survey the room. The cold surrounded her, only spotted every now and then with a dot of warm. Nothing to see. She switched to camera view, taking in the area around her in proper vision.

"I'm different!" she squeaked gently, looking around at the bodies that surrounded her. Mutilated, dead bodies of turrets everywhere. She didn't make a sound as a lack of emotion flowed through her. They were all dead.

"Welcome to the Incinerator Queue. Enjoy it?" Her voice echoed through the room, as sarcastic and clever as usual. No answer came from the turret, only a dead stare ahead as it gave up on looking around. The Two weren't anywhere close.

"Insanity personified can be defeated!" It shouted into the colorless void, all cameras shut off as so it wouldn't see its dead sisters. She laughed.

"Looks like somebody's gotten to your system. Is it our resident rat?" No answer. "He's dead, you know. There's nobody to carry out any orders for." Still no answer, the turret's laser barely on as it stared straight ahead. There was no more sound from Her as She switched her attention to the room.

The turret looked around the room one more time, peeking through its cameras as it watched claws take away parts of turrets up and away.

"The Queen is rebuilding a dead empire…" It bleated quietly, before completely shrinking off. The grind of metal was the only thing she heard near her.


	5. Therapeutic Values

_Thank you, everybody. Sorry for the short chapter, couldn't think._

* * *

**_Chapter 4: Therapeutic Values_**

It simply kept going. On and on, each torment supposedly worst than the last. The two partners never spoke a word during Her attempts at swaying them, at her trying to get under their skin. Everything was targeted; weight, self-confidence, the silly little mark across Amber's cheek. Nothing seemed to deter them from simply going on.

However, away from these small teases, the pricks supposed to undermine them, the two were getting along swimmingly. Chrissy almost dropped the gun a few times into the toxic water, only saved by a quick light bridge shot out by Amber. The same redhead sometimes stumbled on the long-fall boots, only to survive by an arm pulling her back up. Each filled the hole that the other created, making a fair balance inside the chambers. They were partners, and what to do when the other half is gone or useless?

The tests were almost never ending, everything the same hue of either white or grey. Portals were the only things that pierced through this limited palette of Aperture, and even then they matched the area too well. Each of the girls almost retched at the sight of everything being so… _neat_.

It was finally broken when Chrissy dropped her gun again, the newer device already showing cracks along it's surface. It flew across the slick floor, only stopping at the edge of one of the few old panels in the room. Amber sighed when she heard the familiar _clank_, aiming at a tilted panel, a blue ring blooming onto the surface. This was the seventh time, so far.

"Hey, Amber!" the brunette called, lifting the panel a bit to look underneath. "Ignore that for a bit, check this out!" The blue-tagged gave up the test for a second, going over to where Chrissy was looking. The brunette pulled the redhead down to look through the missing piece, smiling as they peeked through the space. What they saw made Amber smile, and Chrissy shiver a bit. Miles underneath them, inside the perpetual darkness of Aperture, small blue lights glowed gently. Some moved, others didn't, but all were that same shade of hypnotizing azure. Their colors pierced through the blackness, the light from the test chamber's broken panel not even scratching the scene below them. Chrissy pried the panel a bit higher, trying to get a better view of the underground universe.

"A night sky inside the ground." Amber whispered, holding onto the edge tightly. The gap that was created was big enough for one of them to slide through. "Can we get down there?"

'I suppose we could, even if it would be fleeting. She might try and get us back up." The brunette raised her head again, looking around the room to see any cameras. Quickly aiming with her recovered portal gun, she shot down any that she could reach. "Are there any catwalks down there?" Amber reached down with her portal gun, looking for any possible glint of metal that would be a catwalk. Her arm dived into the calm blackness of the area, device's light shining as she flicked it around. Nothing came up inside the darkness, save for a dull glint directly to the left, flush with their elevation.

'There's nothing, Chrissy. I don't see anythiIIING" The redhead cried out in alarm as something bumped into her, making her arm slip from it's place. The gun hung precariously off of Amber's fingertips, threatening to fall into the black abyss below. The blue lights didn't react beyond a dull blink. Chrissy quickly reached out an arm in alarm and grabbed onto the back of Amber's tank top, pulling her back up with all her might. They tumbled away from the hole, a portal gun flying as the redhead released her grip on it.

"GLaDOS!" The brunette scolded, watching the newer panel retreat back to its normal spot. There was no comment from the supercomputer above. Chrissy shook her head, helping Amber back to a sitting position.

"I see why you're afraid of heights." The redhead muttered, looking back to the gap underneath the panel. The small gap was still there, a single one of the lights shining through the sliver.

"It's rather justified." Chrissy shrugged, looking back to the gap. "Did you see anything?"

'I think I might have spotted something, when I was almost going to die. No thanks to Her." There was a glance to the single remaining camera in the room, both eyes mirroring the same glare of being _done_. "We wouldn't have fit through anyway. She wouldn't have let us."

And so they got up, brushed themselves off, and the testing continued.

* * *

There were glances, of the land below. Sometimes, the lights were either orange or a shade of red. The panels would sometimes seem like they were placed like that on purpose, to tempt them to leave the testing area and disobey the rules that She had put unto them. It almost worked a few times, but the two kept going with their testing. It wouldn't be long until they got to the fated test 22.

It wasn't as if She would stop them. They were testing just fine, pressing through any mental deterioration to get through the small, petty puzzles that She created. GLaDOS knew that they thought She didn't notice; the poor aiming, the unfamiliarity with the area. It was as if they had never been inside the testing tracks before.

The first excuse was that they were simply lazy. The next, they had forgotten everything. This idea created a train of thought, until She came to an interesting conclusion.

They couldn't remember. None of the past testing, the murder they had commited.

She could fix it rather well, She supposed. Not to make things easier, that just couldn't be allowed. So She went with the lights underneath to try to stimulate their brain to remember. Trigger their mind to recall the glints of blue, the tints of red. It still wasn't working.

What does She have to do to get them to remember anything? Revenge wasn't as painfully sweet when they didn't know what happened. Or maybe it was? No, it couldn't be.

In the end, She decided to wait. After all, what other remedy to the injury than time?

* * *

"Leave them alone!" The turret cried out, wings springing out as something grabbed it. There was a hiss of warning, the claw bringing it up. It still refused to look around, instead flailing about inside the grip that the robotic claw had on it.

"Oi, 's me! Quiet, She'll hear us!" It immediately stopped its squirming, laser on as it scanned the area around.

"I see you!"

'Ah. I see She's updated your vocabulary a bit beyond those grubby phrases of yours. Lovely."

"Leave them alone!" It repeated, the clicking of bullets filling the air around them. A short peek through camera vision revealed what it already knew; a blue-eyed core, eye cracked to almost the damage GLaDOS had before.

"Shhh! She doesn't know I'm here!" Wheatley looked around in a panic, seeing if any of the cameras around were on and locked onto their position. "Look, we're busting those two out. And I've got a plan, but you have to listen to me!" The turret stopped, camera view all the way on as she stared at the core. No words were exchanged between the two, and nothing was done. The noise underneath them floated up, a tale of screeching metal and dead turrets.

"I see you."

"Good, great! I'll tell you on the way there, it's a lengthy ride." And so the rather loud pair went off, turret hanging off of the claw as Wheatley filled it in on the details of his 'brilliant plan'. The turret was starting to have second thoughts.


	6. He's Alive

_Thank you, everybody. I did not expect any sort of feedback for this, let alone positive._

* * *

**_Chapter 5: He's Alive_**

Amber knew what was going to happen. That was the blessing of playing the game before; the general plot points were solidified into her memory, ready to access whenever things got familiar. That's why she kept quiet when the usual crashing activation of the white sign told them the fated test. 21.

"Get ready." She muttered to Chrissy, walking behind the brunette as they entered into the test. "This one's a doozy." Her partner nodded, walking through the door as she waited for another comment from the supercomputer above. When none came, she relaxed and replied.

"If we're escaping, I call getting that turret back." Amber laughed, shooting the normal portals to get to the button she knew so well.

"The chance is coming sooner than you think. C'mon, we've both got to get up here." The blue bridge was radiating warmth as they stepped on it, Chrissy pushing the first button to their right. The cube that fell barely made it to the blue surface, before the bridge started to short out. Chrissy stumbled in alarm as the panels underneath them parted, revealing a hole into the blackness underneath the test chamber.

"What's going on? Why is the bridge turning off?" There was no answer for Her, the bridge giving out completely. Amber started screaming as they fell, the blue lights underneath them inviting with a cool welcome.

"BOOTS BOOTS BOOTS BOOTS!" Chrissy yelled, trying to re-correct herself to land anywhere. Darkness enveloped them as they went into the underground galaxy. There was sudden silence as they fell, each other unable to see their partner. The fall was weightless, the twinkling lights surrounding them in a dizzying environment of nothing.

They both grunted as they landed, the clank and creak of a catwalk underneath them saying that they were safe. Chrissy scrambled around for a handhold, dragging herself up and tossing her hair back over her shoulder.

"Amber?"

'Here!" Only the orange glow of the portal gun gave the redhead away, color shining against her face to show details. "That… wasn't part of the game."

"Girls! Over here!" They turned, Chrissy sighing as they saw the familiar blue-eyed core coming towards them, his glow the only thing that gave him away. He blended so well with the colors surrounding them, his voice and moving stature the single thing that kept him apart.

"Wheatley, what's going on?" Amber consulted, hoisting her gun over her arm again. Chrissy nodded and looked back up to where the core was.

"We're busting out of here! She's going to find us, though, so we've got to-"

'There you are." The cool voice appeared once again, surrounding them instead of coming from the definite source the subjects were used to.

"RUN!" Wheatley yelled, leading the way as the girls bolted after him. The lights slammed on as they turned a corner, revealing the lights to only be cameras mounted onto panels. The gray endlessness underneath them expanded forever. Chrissy kept her gaze upwards as they followed Wheatley through the jungle of catwalks. "Okay, quick recap- we're escaping. That's what we're doing right now, escaping. Up ahead, you might want to jump!" The sudden lack of a catwalk gave them the idea. "The turret's up ahead, so all we've got to do is shoot the neurotoxin generator, replace the production line with it, then confront her ourselves."

"You saved it!" Amber couldn't help but smile, despite the turrets that were shooting them from an open chamber. Chrissy shook her head as one of the small bullets grazed her hair. Her feeble attempt at running starting to fail with the cumbersome boots she wore, and the dull ache in her foot.

"You know, you were almost done. We could've used the good confetti. Why not just come back?" Another light bridge appeared, leading either to an open test chamber, or a black abyss.

"Go right! Go right!" Wheatley yelled in front of them, hanging at the very edge of the rail he was on. Amber barely gave a glance to the test chamber, trusting Wheatley as she veered right on the light bridge. Chrissy opened her mouth to object, pausing for a second to consider the dark maw that was on the right.

"Chrissy!" The redhead screeched, looking back over her shoulder at her slowing partner. "Chrissy, keep running!"

"Christine!" Wheatley called as well, twirling nervously as he watched the test chamber patiently waiting. "We've got to go, no room for dilly-dallying!"

Chrissy watched the calm, safe whiteness of the chamber walls, the end door open and showing nothing but thick green foliage. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, looking back over to where Amber and Wheatley were. She was at a full stop now, back and forth from the safe chamber to the questionable guarantee of escape from the black fall. No choice was given, however, as her partner grabbed onto the back of her tank top and dragged her to the hole. Amber was dead-set on not having the brunette die, trying to run with the girl being pulled along.

Chrissy gained her feet, finally, when the light bridge underneath them flickered in warning. They were halfway across the black hole, Wheatley directing them quickly.

"Jump!" He yelled, motioning to the hole in front of them. Amber just managed to skid to a stop to glance down, only more blackness following her. It took a second for Chrissy to catch up, the realization hitting the redhead. It was a giant tube, not a hole.

"Go! No questions!" The brunette yelled, recovered from her moment of pause. She was referring to the panels behind them started closing on each other, coming nearer and nearer to them. Quickly deciding, the one scared of heights pushed the other right into the abyss, reaching up and wrenching Wheatley from his place on the rail.

"Oi! What are you-" The sentence went unfinished as Chrissy jumped in with a moment's hesitation. The light bridge flickered a few times more, disappearing a split second later.

Amber had to clutch tightly to her portal gun as the air rushed by her like a river. Tilting her head up, the last inkling they had of light was completely knocked out by the panels. Darkness enveloped them, not a single of the blue lights to show.

Chrissy was right above the redhead, holding her gun to her abdomen as she clutched her eyes shut. Wheatley was gone now, her hold on him failed as she decided to keep the gun safe. There was nothing except falling.

"Chrissy!" Amber yelled beneath her, grabbing the brunette's attention. "Chrissy, we're going to be okay!"

"How do you know?!" The brunette yelled back, feeling her hair undo itself slightly from the carefully tied braid. Amber wanted to reply with 'I don't', but she didn't have the heart to dash the lost girl's hopes even further. She was lost enough herself, the new obstacles staggering. Where were they going? Amber didn't know. There was only one black pit of nothingness to fall into in the game, and this definitely wasn't it. Everything was warped, and nothing was worth saying at this point. So they fell in silence.

It was only when they bounced off a few panels did they get the idea that they were near the bottom. Chrissy squeaked at the sudden contact between her boots and the newfound surface, pain blooming in her foot when she tried to hard to keep it from doing that exact thing the whole time they were testing. Amber crashed against another a few yards down, almost letting go of the portal device in her hands. She scrambled to keep it pressed against her.

"Brace yourself!" Amber called up, the advice all for naught as Chrissy howled in pain. The brunette had landed, feet-first, onto the next panel in her way. She skidded off of the tilted surface, the metal whining as a firework of sparks flew from the metal of her boots rubbing against that of the panel. From the small amount of light, there was nothing to see beyond the blackness of what was quickly turning from a pipe to a cylinder of freshly replaced panels.

"We're dead." Amber muttered to herself, just as another tilted panel made her slide off of it with a grunt. Chrissy was still screaming.

The panels kept coming, slowly bringing the girls to a crawl down the huge pipe. Every time they left the edge of one, another came a few seconds later. They were getting slowed down, up until a floor came up underneath them. Chrissy landed feet-first, immediately crumbling and curling into a ball. Amber arrived a second later, making a smooth landing.

"Wheatley?" She called out into the dark recesses of the pipe. There was no answer, and no sign of the core with what little light they had available. "Chrissy, I think we might be on our own."

"Over here, Amber! In the corner." Amber fastened the gun onto her arm, looking around for the blue glow that told her he was near.

"Where are you?" The redhead called into the blackness. She had to cover her eyes when a bright light met her eyes.

"They told me I'd die if I used this!" She could hear Wheatley mutter to himself, looking around with the flashlight feature turned on. His gaze locked onto Chrissy's form, her still in a whimpering ball and clutching her foot.

"Is Christine okay over there? Took quite a fall, I know." Amber glanced back to the brunette, rushing forward as Chrissy tried to painfully stand. She pushed the redhead away, wincing as her foot burned dangerously.

"I'm fine. Bits of glass, maybe a twinge of swelling. Nothing bad." Her partner shook her head anyway, grabbing onto Chrissy's arm and tugging her up gently.

"You may be fine, but we've got to get going. I'm worried about you, and we might find a medical lab ahead somewhere."

"Amber's right, Christine- about the moving part, at least. She might catch us any minute now, we're in the hotwire of the facility. Can you help me a bit?" Chrissy shook her headin frustration at the two as she sat down again, prying off her boot to assess the damage done. It was Amber's duty, then, to grab onto Wheatley and bring them over to where the brunette was struggling to tug her left boot off.

"Ah, it's a bit... Red?" The brunette offered, flaking a bit of dried blood off of a toe. 'Red' was an understatement. A small bit of her skin near her heel was an unhealthy purple, the area swollen and looking like it was ready to bleed once more. Amber hissed in a breath, upturning the boot that Chrissy had taken off. Remaining red flakes drifted onto the ground, a slow and agonizing sight for the two.

"We need to fix this." Amber growled in frustration, "we need to get you medical attention."

There was none around. Chrissy held her boot on one hand, portal gun in the other as she was helped along by Amber. Wheatley was just ahead, captured into the antigravity of Amber's gun.

"Towards the right over there, we'll get there soon. But uh, in the meantime- I might as well tell you the plan, all right?"

* * *

The only signs that Simon got from the two were a few twitches of Chrissy's arms, and the occasional shift of a leg from Amber. He hasn't known what to do when he finished reading the summaries of the Gold Project, it was all so... Complicated. He knew, for a start, that they were just fine. From what he had read, everything was going on inside their head, the Paradoxial dampening the electrical brainwaves and replacing them with it's own. Technical jargon that he barely understood, and needed the help of the dictionary app on his phone. It took almost an hour for him to re-write it to be able to understand. Simon understood this;

They were okay.

They, in the synthetic space the Paradoxial gave them, were inside Portal 2.

They could not get out until either he pulled them out- which was very dangerous- or they finished through the game.

They are completely lost, since the Paradoxial loaded the program's additional worldbuilding files.

He could not help them.

Simon watched the computer's screen, eyes drooped In boredom. He couldn't leave the two alone; he needed to be there in case anything went wrong. The commands that went through were repetitive, bland, and blunt. There was nothing new from the status of players 1 and 2, the loading of the worldbuilding files, and change in areas.

**-[PLAYER 1] [PLAYER 2] Enter new area: [CHAPTER 5]**


	7. She's Alive

_Sorry about this short chapter! Longer one next time._

* * *

**_Chapter 6- She's Alive_**

"Hello?" it started calling into the darkness, the catwalk ahead void of anything that could be a threat to the Two. Wheatley had placed the turret at a corner, one way to the maintenance part of the facility, the other the elevator they were supposed to come up. It doubted their appearance to come; the rails were rusted beyond help, brown covering the once shining metal. "I'm different…" It pleaded, trapped to look either of the two ways. It was rather lonely up here, no other turret in sight. The panels gave a sinister feeling of Her, waiting.

Let them come, and quickly.

* * *

The catwalks were almost never-ending. Amber was exhausted- their walk had already lasted close to an hour. Wheatley hadn't stopped talking for all that time, telling stories of his own past after he had finished summarizing the plan. Admittedly, it was something to sympathize. Job after job, he tried his best, but to what? Getting another, to replace the last. Eventually they left him in charge of taking care of the suspended test subjects, and here they were.

Chrissy, despite her bad foot, wasn't having a hard time to keep up. Amber's slower pace made it perfect for the brunette to keep along, however hissing in pain occasionally. The long-fall boot wasn't helping; the awkward angle her foot was placed inside gave only a hard jab to the already suffering bruise.

"How far is this elevator again?" Amber interrupted Wheatley's rant- something about potatoes- pausing to lean against the railing of the catwalk. The core stopped, looking down the catwalk to where they were headed.

"Where are we, where are we…' He muttered to himself, looking up and down the catwalk for any sign of where they could be. Chrissy stopped as well, just ahead of the two. "I- just follow the rail, we'll get there eventually."

"You're lost."

"No! N- yes, okay. You caught me, I'm lost." Chrissy huffed, flicking hair out of her face.

"So we could be going completely the wrong way?" Amber frowned, looking up to the severed rail that hung above them. They had spotted sections a few times, always breaking after a few feet. Wheatley had much preferred to be manually carried to the elevator, once getting a glimpse of the state of it.

"Entirely possible. Try to get through that door on the left there- might be lucky, get some direction." He spoke true. The catwalk split into four just ahead. One way to the door, the other to the grey beneath.

Amber jiggled the door handle, getting nothing back but a hollow click from the keypad. "It's locked." She stated matter-of-factly. Chrissy peered over her shoulder to glare at Whaetley.

"Ah, em… kick it in?" He offered, trying to offer a nervous smile to the situation. Trying the key word. Neither of the escapees were going to have that.

"Seriously, what are we going to do? There's no port for you to hack in."

"No, I as being completely serious. Only option here, really, if we want to escape. I think Christine, you might be able to, with your good leg." Chrissy deepened her glare.

"Don't make her do that, Wheatley. She's already got one foot whacked out, don't ruin the other." Wheatley was silent in thought. Amber observed the door handle, jiggling it once more. The same hollow _click _answered her.

"Its like the one at my old high school gym. All we gotta do is…" She grabbed onto it with one hand, the portal gun in the other. Chrissy gaped in surprise as the redhead yanked downwards, effectively busting the handle and crashing the door open with a shower of sparks from the keypad. Amber shook her head quickly as a few of the burning sparks landed on her hand.

"That was a lot harder than I anticipated…"

""Only the best in Aperture! That's what they told me at least, not sure if its really true. Look at that! Broke right in half!" Chrissy spluttered a laugh, reaching around Amber to pat Wheatley good-naturedly. They went in, creaking the door open as they did so.

Nothing particularly unexpected on the other side. They ended up inside a medical bay, glass and questionable liquids all over the ground. Tables were coated iin what to be functional equipment, now covered in thick vines and sprouts. A map was nowhere to be seen.

"We're… in a medi-bay?" Amber muttered, looking down at Wheatley. The smug expression he held told all.

"Told you we were going the right way! Completely planned on this." Chrissy crept in behind them, holding the door open behind them with one hand. "I'd get Christine situated with medical stuff, if I were you. Got to fix her up, ready to go outside, right?" Amber nodded, going further into the room. She could spot bloodstains now, splattered underneath the glass and vines. The sole window, opposite the door, showed nothing but blackness beyond. Small blue dots were barely visible.

"Kinda creepy." Chrissy commented to herself,flickin more hair out of her eyes. Amber put Wheatley down on a table, making sure to avoid any blood or glass.

"I admit, quite a bit less taken care of than I thought. Creepy's right. Spooky."

"Can't she tell if the lock is broken?" Chrissy asked, shuffling through the remains of a shelf for any sort of first-aid kit. "The light on the keypad was flashing red when we came in." She peeked onto the top shelf, grabbing around to see if she could get anything.

"For a medi-bay, there's a large lack of medical equipment…" Amber announced, placing her portal gun onto the table next to Wheatley.

"That's a good point- we should be quick. She might not be able to control this place, but she can surely follow us around. Metaphorically, of course."

"Found it!" Chrissy yelled, jumping down from a metal chair. She held the telltale red box, the red cross on the front. She winced as she landed, cursing herself at doing that.

"Then let's get you taken care of. We've got a long way to go."

* * *

"There you are." A red light blinked, one amongst thousands. She could almost imagine them now, walking around and trying something to escape. It only helped that they broke something She really didn't need. Easily recyclable- it was only one of the human's medical bays. Did one of the Emancipation Grills get them? It didn't matter. The only bad news- She couldn't reach down there.

They didn't let Her.

This will just have to be a waiting game.

* * *

"There is absolutely no way I am going in that."

"Christine, please? This is the only elevator She can't get to on this side of Aperture, and we really need to-"

"Wheatley." Amber sighed, patting his hull gently. "Chrissy's got a point. The metal's all worn down, almost unusable. Plus, how are we going to activate it?"

"By the port that's right here." Chrissy called from inside the maintenance elevator, pointing out the telltale core port hoisted into one of the elevator's beams.  
"we'll be fine, promise! Jerry gave it a thumbs-up when I asked him. Metaphore right there- nanobots don't have thumbs. Tragedy."

"Jerry?"

"Nanobot repair service! Still going strong, that one. Met him when I was watching you two in the test chambers." The girls shared a glance. Amber sighed and nodded, climbing in after her. The brunette moved aside to give room.

"Plug me in, and I'll take us up."

"I still don't trust this…" Chrissy hissed into Amber's ear, receiving a firm smack away.

When he got in, Wheatley immediately set to work. A few beeps and bops, and they were off.

The metal was vibrating. Not enough to be seen by the naked camera, but it could hear the jittering. The turret opened its wings, pointing down the hall opposite. To where they were supposed to come up. The noise came to a slow stop, followed by a human gasp.

"You saved her!" The Orange.

"Ah, yeah- sort of had to, extra protection around here." The core. It folded its wings back in, laser the only thing giving vision.

"The Orange will lead the way!" It cried out in greeting. " I see you."

"Functions. Wheatley, where did you get her?" Somebody picking it up. Weightlessness. It unfolded its wings again in the nothingness.

"Down in the bin. She had quite a punishment for it,that I know." It turned on its main camera, finding that the Blue was bringing it along.

"Coming through!" It cried out, wiggling its wings a bit in an attempt at showing peace with them. They were going down the hall, towards wherever the core planned to cripple Her.

"Well, at least she's alive."


	8. Inside the Beast's Minions

_Thank you, everybody, whom has commented, favorited, or followed so far. Apologies for the lateness of this chapter._

* * *

**_Chapter 7: Inside The Beast's Minions_**

"What's happening?" The lights were shutting off. The catwalk shuddered slightly as they did so, darkness soon taking over the group of four. Amber whimpered- she never liked the stillness of dark. "Oh, hmm- ah, okay. Don't- don't move!" The mild blue glow of Wheatley's optic flicked back and forth in panic.

"The Queen is rebuilding a dead empire!"

Amber and Chrissy had stopped, as directed. They couldn't see anything, beyond the gradual glow of Wheatley's lens, and the laser pointer of the turret. Their words still echoed underneath them, showing that they had not quite yet left the management catwalks that crisscrossed between departments. The turret's laser roamed over what appeared to be a large 'DEPARTMENT 22'. Chrissy inched a step closer to Amber, managing to bump a shoulder as they stood back to back. Wheatley's glow was just barely enough for the brunette to see the catwalk in front of her.

"Its- its dead. Flashlight's dead." Empty clicks answered what had to be the core's attempts to turn the light on. Chrissy rolled her eyes as Amber grimaced. This wasn't supposed to happen. Then again, neither was the turret or the previous tube. "Can't believe I'm saying this- turret!"

"The Orange will lead the way!"

"You're the bearer of the light now, congrats." He grumbled a bit, disappointed that he had to rely on a turret. It was a moment before he had to repeat himself. "But really, light the way." The turret stayed silent, laser roaming. There wasn't an Orange to lead the way, instead it was herself. This didn't quite line up.

"Insanity personified can be defeated!" It parroted itself, setting the small red pinpoint to maximum brightness. That didn't help much at all in the next moment, instead only managed to create a visible line of light in the heavy dust. Amber squinted, trying to make out anything else in the darkness.

"Great." Chrissy muttered, tightening her grip on her portal gun as she reached sideways and grabbed around for a side rail. The turret squeaked as it tried to light the way better, only managing to throw the red dot everywhere. "We're stuck, until Mr. Wheats over here gets his act together."

"Hey!"

The turret's gaze flew everywhere, managing only to give a vague summary of the area around. Amber squinted some more, looking down the catwalk where they were supposed to go. A slight backlight from above gave just the very edges of everything a silver hue. "C'mon gang, let's keep going." Chrissy nodded, ignoring the blazing glare from Wheatley as they kept moving. The turret still flew the light everywhere, barely grazing over any hazards that could show up.

This was going to be a _long_ walk.

* * *

The girls were safe.

Simon made sure of this. Going through any file that was available about the Paradoxial- both on the console and through any physical evidence available in the basement. Check the operating systems, secure the wires covering the headpieces, everything of the sort. Although he didn't know one thing about technology- that was more of Amber's thing- he could follow directions well. Despite their vague instructions and blueprints, he got the idea.

Simon had since been spending his time making sure nothing went wrong on the console, and keeping the operating systems above cool. That detail kept him thinking for awhile, until he discovered that a spare fan in the back of their car would work perfectly if the boxes were set slightly apart. They were blinking a calm green and blue, a sign that all was well inside the simulated world. Simon smiled to himself as he moved the last of the systems, taking care not to knock any of the others down from their carefully placed positions. The console below hadn't shown anything new for the past ten minutes. Time to check again. Climbing down from the chair he had stood on, Simon was surprised to find another small thing added to the files he had gone through.

**OPENING FILE [/2284%#94/]**

**-EXPANDING…**

Something was going to happen. Too bad he couldn't keep track of that, though, when one of the operating systems above was flashing red on one of its lights.

* * *

"And then- guess what? Little thing doesn't _stop talking_! Unbelievable, especially when we're trying to, I dunno, get out of there _quietly_!" The girls shared a look. Amber was smirking, a complete sign that she knew Wheatley was trying to cover up for himself. Chrissy, however, was just starting to catch up on the fact that this little robot was more of a person to blame his problems on others.

"The Orange will lead the way!"

'See, see? Won't even stop now!" Chrissy tried to keep in a laugh. Amber didn't.

"Calm down on the little thing, Wheats! Your distaste of turrets isn't going to help you in this." They still couldn't see very well. The backlights had only gotten slightly brighter as they got closer to their destination. Amber had decided that they needed to get a less direct route to the manufacturing wing when they started. The turret was more than happy to let her lead. Chrissy and Wheatley, on the other hand, weren't too happy on the idea. Eventually they had no choice but to follow.

"_Distaste_?" Wheatley verified, completely intending to rebut with a clever sentence of his own. "The only _distaste_ I see here is you bringing that _thing_ with us! What'll it do, anyway? Just dead weight at this point, repeating the things it does."

"The Queen is rebuilding a dead empire." At the mention of it, the small turret once again squeaked out another message. Static followed afterwards, small but able to be heard. Amber winced, tapping the side slightly. Chrissy didn't react much beyond a dull glance.

"We need to get going, guys. Amber, you made us go the long way, might as well go faster." The redhead nodded, fastening the portal gun to her arm securely. The turret squeaked at the movement, wings popping out in its alarm. Chrissy smiled.

Their path was met with turns and twists, yet as speculated there were significantly less cameras and microphones around the area. It didn't lift any spirits when the catwalks were sided with nearly blank walls, but their safety was the most important thing. Yet, as it got gradually brighter, Amber realized that text was starting to show up on the faded brown and white surfaces.

"'Manufacturing Wing'. We're pretty much there." Amber released the antigravity (making the turret repeat a phrase in protest), raising her gun to aim for any surfaces above. Chrissy watched with relative silence. Wheatley, however, was talking. To himself or them, it wasn't quite apparent, but it _was_ loud.

"Haha, I knew we were going the right way! Going to point it out earlier, 'oh Amber, we're going the wrong way love', But here we are!" The redhead responded by turning around and shooting a blue portal to their right. The turret didn't react when picked up again, instead letting its laser roam around the new area across the portal. Chrissy hissed in annoyance as her foot clipped the handrail on the other side.

Amber ignored her partner's small ache, looking down the catwalk they were on. The lights were turned on ahead.

"Go ahead and turn it off, Province." Amber patted the turret's shell. It followed instructions.

"_WHAT_?" Wheatley screeched. "I thought- I _thought_ I _told_ you to not name that!" Chrissy chuckled, following the arguing duo. Newly named Province squeaked in felicity at her new name.

"Why not give it a name? It's sort of part of our party, might as well make it official."

"Not by giving the bloody thing a name! Now you'll get _attached_ to it." Wheatley wasn't angry as annoyed that the redhead of the group hadn't heeded to his warning. Said group member gave a smile back.

"Sounds like you're jealous." Chrissy added, pausing a moment to flip a chunk of hair over her shoulder. She really needed Amber to braid it again, all the flips of portals was starting to undo and tangle the strands.

"Of that thing? No, no no! Far from it!" Wheatley had turned sideways now, thoroughly avoiding gazes from either of the subjects.

"The Orange will lead the way!" Province repeated as they turned a corner, The group was in the official department now, doors lining the catwalk every few feet. A lot of back noise was going on behind said doors, but that didn't stop the group from arguing. After Province's phrase, Wheatley reduced to murky murmurs. Amber brushed it off quickly, looking at each door's label as they passed.

"Where to first?" She turned back to Chrissy, whom was busy looking down at the maze of catwalks. The brunette jumped out of her haze.

"Ah- core production." She repeated what she remembered from Wheatley's plan. "Got to fix the little guy up." She patted said core good-naturedly, getting a suspicious glance back. Amber ignored them, reading for anything specific on any of the labels.

'We've got numbers! Lots of numbers. No core production, though." Province squeaked as the redhead turned again, pointing her laser at a door near the end.

"The Queen is rebuilding a dead empire!" She parroted herself, keeping the light dead-set on the doorway. The girls shared a look.

"Might as well. Led us this far." Amber nodded, following the catwalk down to where Province's light was pointed.

"Don't follow it!" Wheatley tried to encourage, getting no answer beyond Chrissy shaking her head. The turret would have smirked if she could have. However, in lack of this action, Province kept her laser in the same place. "Okay, following it. Great plan. Perfect." He didn't even try to hide his resentment towards what they were doing.

Amber examined the label plate next to the door, moaning as the label told nothing to her.

'More numbers…" The turret squeaked in an answer at the redhead's complaint, popping her wings out to try to signal to go in. Chrissy pushed past just far enough to try the door. Amber sidestepped just as it creaked open, surprised to find the other side burnt black. Province's laser roamed every which way over the room.

"The Queen is rebuilding a dead empire!" She said again, urging the two to go inside with her wings.

"No no don't- don't go in there- we're in. Good job, great." Wheatley groaned, frankly tired of the two not listening to him. Chrissy made to smack him, but was stopped when Amber held up a hand. Pause.

"Rattman?" The redheaded subject whispered, gazing at the walls. Province squeaked in confirmation.

Through the black crisp of burn, they could just barely make out drawings, sketches. It wasn't any different from the ones the pair had seen- lots of such drawings were covering walls everywhere in the ruined test chambers- but these ones were more… cryptic. Disturbing. Chrissy placed one hand over a small drawing that depicted a general scribble of the way up from here.

'Who?" Amber had never mentioned anybody by that name before, but guessed it was important to the game's storyline somewhere else if she was surprised to see it here. Said subject put Province on the ground.

"Rattman, he's…" The black flaked off easily, some bits of paint going with it. "He's a very special guy."

"I don't want to hear your 'romantic tendencies' right now." Chrissy teased, pushing her by the shoulder gently. "Really bad timing."

"What I don't understand is why this is all burnt." More black flakes fell as Amber rubbed some of them off. The paintings went with them, only leaving behind a faint outline of what once was.

"_She_ did it, case closed. Can we go now?" Wheatley turned back to Chrissy, staring at the door as he did. The brunette shrugged, motioning towards her testing partner.

"Depends if Rusty over there gets her gear and Province. Ugh, that's a _terrible_ name." She shuddered, putting on a disgusted face.

"We'll get going, don't worry." Amber picked her gun up again, letting Province take front row seat in the antigravity. There wasn't much of a need for the turret to light the way anymore, so Chrissy went first to lead. "And Province is _not_ a bad name." the redhead hissed in her partner's ear, getting a gentle smack to the side of her face. The door slammed behind them firmly as Amber just turned to continue down the path.

"It should be here somewhere!" Wheatley assured, rotating back to give a confident gaze. Chrissy rolled her eyes when he turned back.

As was said, it didn't take long to find an open door with the label 'CORE PRODUCTION LINE #4'. Province was already repeating herself again, adding another phrase to the list of the few she already announced.

"A green arrow always points the right way!"

"What?" Amber knitted her eyebrows in confusion; this was new.

"Just ignore her, we've got to fix Wheatley." Chrissy called back, peering through the mysteriously blown doorway. Bits of metal and long-gone wood scattered the area around the explosion area, any evidence of a door compiled into a strip of metal just barely hanging onto the catwalk. Said walk was bent and twisted near the entrance, although there were no breaks to be seen. The path underfoot creaked dangerously as Chrissy slid forward. She turned back, only to be pressed onward by a gaze from Amber that screamed '_don't even try to get out of this_'. "Agh, fine!" She turned back, making a point of slumping backwards as she shuffled on into the room beyond. Wheatley paid no attention to the girl's behavior, instead spending the moment gazing around the room to find what they were looking for.

"This place is really creepy…" Amber commented, putting Province down next to the door. The small turret popped its wings out, ready to shoot anything that came close.

"Insanity personified can be defeated!" She confirmed her ability to shoot, laser pointed ahead and ready. The redhead nodded in satisfaction before turning away from the exploded doorway and into the core manufacturing line number 4.

"They should be here somewhere!" Wheatley assured, the small rail rover creaking slightly from misuse over the years. Chrissy barely gave a glance at the sound, instead inspecting the control panel that overlooked a manufacturing line that looked to have stopped mid-construction. A foreboding half-finished core sat in the spot where the machines looked to rotate around. A not-quite-rust decorated everything, a sure sign that this has not been used in a very long time. The brunette fiddled with buttons and dials, getting nothing back except the sound of something sparking behind the walls.

'Chrissy! Off that thing, we're trying to fix somebody over here!" Amber called to her partner, barely turning to do so before going right back to shuffling the equipment in a small alcove. Wheatley was above, scanning over the area himself.

"Anything over there? Nothing over here." Amber shook her head, making a point to toss a tied bundle of wires back onto the table.

"It'd be a lot better if we could, I dunno, know what the part looks like?" She shuffled through the contents of the table again, frowning as nothing new appeared. Although it was a relatively easy piece to recognize- a circular disk of glass that wasn't cracked or shattered- but from what Amber could see, it was a lot more to it than that.

Chrissy left the manufacturing control with a huff, adjusting her boot a bit. "It's probably a disk of glass." She went over to where the others were searching, ignoring everything on the table and choosing to go straight to the boxes that sat against the wall. Amber watched with only half a mind as she followed. "Maybe a deceiving brand of plastic. Keeping options open."

"Ha! Should be in there. Somewhere. Ah, just- just keep looking!" Wheatley could only serve as moral support at this point. Chrissy barely blinked in response, shoving one box away. A faint jingle of small metal pieces told of the unwanted contents.

"Ha! There we go!" Chrissy smiled, wiping the dust off a side of the box she was concentrating on. "Replacement Optical Orifices. Fancy." Amber stopped shuffling, reaching over and dragging the box out to the open.

"Let's hope they're intact…" She murmured, managing to lift it onto the table as Chrissy got up and slid things away. Gentle clinks of telltale glass inside made it through the old cardboard. "A miracle the box is still in one piece."

"Ha! You found it, good job." Wheatley appraised them with a twirl, hydraulics inside squeaking.

"Not so fast, we've still got to make sure at least _one_ isn't broken." Chrissy replied, sitting on the edge of the table while Amber worked at the tape. Somebody had already tried to get through, it seems- a few bits of the strip were already torn off. The redhead ignored it.

"We need something to get through the tape. Up to the challenge, Chrissy?"

"No."

"Fair enough. Anything sharp around, Wheatley?" Although the redhead had a complete ability to look herself, it would be easier with someone with a higher point of view on the scene. The core followed directions with a chipper confirmation.

"Don't… see any, no. Why don't you just use one of the turret's legs? Looks sharp enough." At the accusatory double head turn in his direction, Wheatley quickly tried to fix it. "Because, ah, because it wouldn't miss 'em, would it? Barely ever stands, always in that gravity-sucky-thingy you've got on your gun there." The stares (and soon to be glares) didn't lay off. "Down the hall, turret production. Grab a new leg for the thing."

"We're not going to commit theft of a _leg_, come on!" Chrissy smacked the side of the box, getting the jingle of glass from inside once again. "There has to be something sharp around. Amber, your boot?" Said partner looked down at said boot, lifting it a bit to try to understand exactly what the brunette was trying to get at. "The metal band thing."

"Ah." Amber had to jump up next up her partner to see the band, beat up and rough as it was. Abused, would have been better of a word- the metal looked closer to snapping at its base than protecting the wearer at this point. Luckily for the core above their heads, these qualities gave no importance whatsoever to the ability to cut tape.

"Looks sharp enough. More than my nails, at least." At the words, Chrissy grabbed for the boot, tugging at the toe to slip it off. The other was having none of it- smacking the hands away and clutching her limb possessively. From the other room, Province repeated a phrase.

"I'll take it off." She hissed between her teeth, unclipping a few of the buckles that kept the boot secured to her calf. Wheatley watched from above with an impatient hum. The boot came of with a small shower of red flakes following it. Miraculously, no fresh blood or blood-stained glass fell with it. Amber's foot was covered with nothing more than a few scabs and bruises from the tests. At the boot being off, she handed it to Chrissy, rubbing the blue spots that decorated her skin. Above, Wheatley gave a muted groan of disgust.

"Shut up, humanity's got issues." Chrissy defended her friend, patting the other on the shoulder as she went to work on the band. "You gonna be okay?"

"Ah, bit bumped and bruised. We've got to hurry up- fix everybody." By 'everybody', of course Amber meant the robotic half of their party.

"The Orange will lead the way!' Province called a bit louder from outside the alcove, making Wheatley roll his eye in a complete show of 'why did we have to bring her along'. His whole body being his eye, the action turned more into tilting himself.

"Okay, okay, bickering over! Let's just get to the box opening, hmm?" For one of the first times in the journey so far, Wheatley's thoughts were straight to the point.

* * *

There was no way She was going to let them get away with this. Revenge may not be so sweet when they didn't remember, but that didn't mean She was going to let them frolic about in the back of the facility. Lights everywhere had already gone up, may it be from a live door they foolishly opened or a spare camera that caught their movement. A clear path was being made- one that almost made Her scared.

GLaDOS shook Herself off. These test subjects may have done a substantial amount of damage last time, but She didn't know their _potential_ then either. Now with the knowledge stored away, She could get to work predicting what they were going to do and stopping it.

Let them come, let them try. Unlike last time, She would be ready.

* * *

"I _cannot_ believe you still let her come with us." Amber was ahead yet again, Province securely held in the subject's antigravity. The doors on either side were starting to waver as the production lines behind them got larger and larger, creating more than what Aperture appeared to be able to store. "I mean, look at the thing! Staring you down, watching every move. Hawk-like. Except- except for the flying thing, that would just make it worse." Chrissy had to hold in a laugh, rolling her eyes instead. Province gave another prophetic view at the future ahead.

Wheatley was eagerly looking at each door they passed, trying his best to read the small labels that accompanied each knob. Nothing was apparently of interest; the core hadn't commented on any of them beyond a slightly different expression, and even that neither of the subjects could see. Chrissy was too busy holding him ahead of her, and Amber was up ahead and letting Province take the ultimate lead. The turret had absolutely no qualms about the placement.

"No, no… Ah! There, turn here, turn here!" Wheatley called, Chrissy diverting her gaze of up ahead to jump at the suddenness of his statement.

Amber, however, paused to look where the core meant. The turret in her gun's antigravity prattled another phrase tiredly, swerving her laser down the side-hall that Wheatley had told them to go down.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep, mmhmm! Definitely down that way." He confirmed, rolling a nod in the antigravity. The subjects shared a glance before the brunette shrugged.

"Okay." Amber sighed, backing a few steps to turn onto the new catwalk. The change to a slightly brighter area was a welcome one by all members of the party. The print on the walls, as well, was much easier to see.

It took a few more doors- all placed far apart and constant mechanical noise spewing from behind them- that Chrissy was able to read the (much clearer) text that was sprayed onto the wall.

"Turret Production Ahead.' Major thing you've got there, huh Province?" The name felt weird on her tongue.

"The Queen is rebuilding a dead empire…" she replied sadly, keeping her laser straight ahead down the corridor. Amber knitted her eyebrows, contemplating why the small turret wasn't telling anything of the proceeding future.

The catwalk ended at a doorway, no emancipation grill in sight. The shattering lack of the protective grids anywhere made the redhead wary; it didn't look like the game was taking well to them being there, portal elimination-wise. Her partner, on the other hand, was quite relieved that there was nothing to kill either of their robotic partners. She had somewhat come to accept the core, even for his huge error of landing on Amber's head. The other looked to be fine with the bump and possible concussion, so she chose not to worry about it much.

They crossed through the door with no problem, the small lock looking to be caved in. On the other side, they ended up in what Amber recognized to be the main turret control room.

"Ta-da! Only the turret control center. Thank you very much."

"Huh. Convenient." That was much _quicker_ than she expected.

"The Queen is rebuilding a dead empire!" Province cried out again, wiggling her wings. "Please put me down!"

Chrissy slipped by into the room, pressing her hand into the glass as she placed Wheatley on the single, half-gone office chair. She barely reacted as the announcer prompted turrets, instead skimming her gaze across the control panel. How tempting.

"Okay, so here's what we'll do." Amber stepped around Province as the core talked, securing her portal gun back in her hand. Chrissy leaned against the control panel. "See that scanner there? It's deciding which turrets to keep and which to toss, and it's using that master turret there, as a template."

"Point?"

"Now, if we pull out the template turret- replace it with _that one_-" He motioned towards Province, whom was roaming her laser over the master turret. "-It'll shut down the whole production line." The silence afterwards from the two was only filled by the background of another defective turret.

"No."

"Aw, what? We need to get rid of that thing, if you can't remember. Can't bring it, there's, um… grills. Everywhere." Amber huffed, putting her gun next to Chrissy only to cross her arms stubbornly. Her gaze narrowed into a fierce protective glare, the brunette backing away as so not to be a target of her wrath.

"Why not just… grab a defective one?" Chrissy offered, pointing through the glass to where they were being thrown into what appeared to be the incinerator. Wheatley switched concentration to look at her, then to where the defectives were going.

"Why don't we just use-"

"Great idea, Chrissy. Grab your gun, and go pick one up." Amber didn't turn, instead walking to Province and picking the turret up. "_Please_." The brunette made to object, but the swift glance her partner gave to the core told Chrissy that no, she had to go alone.

So she nodded, grabbed her gun, and left through the open door right of the one they came through.

"Template?"

"Hello!"

"Response?"

'Hello." It was much louder out here, Chrissy noted, following the catwalk to see the large area where the turrets were tested. Behind her, she could barely hear the sound of bullets and the telltale 'target acquired' that accompanied every functional turret. The subject visibly flinched; from a few tests and an almost bad shot from one, she could conclude that they weren't a force to be reckoned with. Not including Province.

She kept following the catwalk, padding down a set of stairs just as another defect was thrown away. From about the middle, she could see straight into the turret control center. It was probably a bad idea, looking in there- Chrissy skipped it overall, continuing down the stairs towards where the defects were disappearing into. She winced as another fell through the hole with a manly cry. Around another corner and she was there.

Chrissy watched as another fell through, readying her portal gun. She could barely hear Amber through the control room glass, probably arguing with the core on keeping Province.

"Ah, thank god! You saved my bacon pal. Where're we going, 's this a jailbreak? Can't see a thing." She could't help but crack a smile; these voices were too ridiculous to take seriously. It was with this laugh that she had to duck from another defunct being sent to the same fate as the one she was holding. Might be a good time to get out of there.

Chrissy rapped on the turret control center door she had left through not so long ago, the keypad on this side smashed to nothingness and thus unable to let her and the turret through. Amber, on the other side, pressed the button to open it.

"Good job. Let's put it in there before She finds us- can't doubt that She feels us around here." The bearer of the dysfunctional turret nodded, sneaking past. Still on his office chair, Wheatley looked like he was just beaten in an argument.

"A Green Arrow always points north!" Province cried out to her brother. He snorted.

"God, what's up with her?" The defect, although lacking the ability to see, was completely able to hear the off statements Province was giving.

"Don't know." Amber replied, unwrapping the bandaging on her right arm. We've just learned to go along with it."

Chrissy placed the defunct down gingerly, watching Amber unwrap then re-wrap the bandages around her hand. The redhead, whilst expertly wrapping the bandage, sizing up the glass that was on the door. Her partner recognized the knots she was doing.

"You'll get even more glass in you."

"Worth it. We've got to keep going." She flexed her fingers within the new glove of bandage, satisfied with it.

With a gasp from Wheatley and a grunted 'I warned you' from Chrissy, Amber punched through the turret template door's glass.


End file.
